Lean on me, Lean on you
by Sypoth Sithicus
Summary: They couldn't take it anymore, the loneliness that slowly ate their world. So they turned to the only one that seemed to care, only to find them in the same situation, and in the end they found each other. Incest, only yourself to blame for reading it
1. Chapter 1

(Disclaimer: I do not own this series, just the creative inspiration that spawned this story, and being a multi-part story I believe that a single disclaimer is sufficient to cover all chapters or inserts into said story though I will make references to this disclaimer in the header of each chapter)

Not supposed to be like this

Keitaro slowly woke up from his peaceful slumber, after he stretched his arms and back his mind slowly wired itself back to life as realization dawned on him just what today was. As a smile crept over his face he stood up and rolled up his futon mattress and folded his bedding before placing them in the corner. Reaching for his clothes he began to mull over the possibilities of the day.

'I wonder what they have planned for today, I have been dropping hints that today is my birthday for some time now. Maybe Naru will finally go out with me on a date and admit that it is a date.' Keitaro thought as a pleasant yet short fantasy ran through his mind.

Sighing he began to dress himself just as an unexpected visitor dropped into his room while muttering to herself about the long drop to the floor as well as the strain it placed on her arms as she dropped quickly into the room.

"Keitaro we have lots of things to do today and you should hurry up and get…" Naru started but stopped when confronted with a half naked Keitaro. "You Pervert." She yelled and punched him in the face.

After a short trip into his dresser Keitaro slowly rose up from the floor while groaning in pain, holding his head he looked up at the girl who held his heart as she turned her back to him in disgust.

"But, you walked in on me." Keitaro mumbled while pulling on the rest of his clothes, pain evident in his voice.

"What was that?" Naru asked with a fiery aura around her.

"Nothing." Keitaro quickly corrected himself to prevent another beating. 'Well, some of the best things have a rocky start.' Keitaro thought as he grabbed his stuff and quickly fallowed Naru out of his bedroom door.

10011011

The day had gone like any other, first him and Naru dropped by Tokyo U for their classes, afterwards they went to the cafeteria, afterwards they headed to the shopping district to buy more supplies and books, then the long trip back to Hinata Sou as well as the usual study session involving Mutsumi.

Dinner was the time he had been waiting for, it was usually considered to be the point of no return for parties, sitting down to the table Keitaro looked around at the setting to try and find any traces of a surprise party. He got so into it that he forgot where he was and who else was there with him.

"You pervert, stop trying to look up other people skirts." Motoko growled menacingly at him while planting her foot in his face.

"Sorry, I was just looking for something." Keitaro defended from his position on the floor while Motoko humphed and sat back down. 'I guess they hid all the stuff really well, probably doesn't want to ruin the surprise for me.'

"What are you thinking about?" Naru spoke from the side of him

"Ah, well, just about the day, you know, the events of it and the significance of those events." Keitaro said while trying to avoid another punch in the face.

"In other words how you can have your way with us?" Naru accused.

"Uh, no that's not-" Keitaro began before Naru punched him causing him to hit the wall making a large dent in it.

Prying himself out of the wall he sat down again and kept his mouth shut, slowly eating his food while mulling over the all too real possibility that none of them got his hints about what today was.

0010111010

Keitaro slowly lowered into his bathing barrel, after dinner he had to fix the wall that had been broken during dinner and since the girls had gone to take a bath he had some time to himself to clean up and get ready for whatever they had planned.

Relaxing and leaning in against the back of the barrel he started to catch parts of the conversation that wafted in from the hot springs.

"That perverted bastard, what is he up to now?" Motoko growled. "First he spends weeks making stupid comments that are out of place or out of time as if he is trying to get on our good side."

"Aw lighten up, he's probably getting the urge to relieve himself, after all he is only a guy and guys tend to feel that urge." Kitsune replied.

"Well, he can just get over it, I don't want Shinobu, Su, or Sara walking in on that kind of activity. He really should be more considerate about the people he is around." Naru said back.

"Sempai isn't like that at all, he's just probably trying to tell us something about today that makes it very important to him." Shinobu tried to defend him.

"Or maybe he just wants us to help him with relieving himself, so what do you say Naru, will you help your boyfriend out?" Kitsune ribbed Naru while playing on what Shinobu said.

"He is not my boyfriend I have no intention of ever going out with a pervert like him, and if he ever so much as tried to get me to help him with that I'd beat him so senseless that he won't ever be able to walk again." Naru said in a serious tone of voice.

At hearing that Keitaro nearly had a heart attack, he was used to being accused of being a pervert but the way Naru said that she would never go out with him devastated him.

"I think he's been trying to tell us that it's his birthday." Su spoke up for the first time. "I was thinking of getting him a land mine."

"Yeah, and I was gong to give him a swift kick in the ass for being a dork." Sara added sarcastically.

"Yeah, and I'll get him a backbone" Motoko said making the others laugh. "I was being serious."

"Sure you were Motoko, sure you were." teased Kitsune

"I just hope he gets over it soon, that idiot can be so thoughtless about others." Naru said to the others gaining a collective agreement.

Keitaro quickly got dressed and left the bathroom, he needed somebody to talk to, somebody who would understand.

01001011

Haruka greeted her nephew as he walked in the door to her shop as she was starting to close for the night. However he only acknowledged her with a wave of his hand and sat down at the usual booth. Something was up, she could feel it in her bones so she entered the kitchen and began to prepare something strong before bringing it out to her nephew and sat at the table.

Lighting a cigarette Haruka let a moment pass before she spoke. "Well, something must be up for you to be down in the dumps like this. "

Giving a heavy sigh Keitaro looked up at her, a look of deep hurt in his eyes. Sighing he slowly began to explain the situation and the events leading up to him being here in her tea shop.

"So, they forgot your birthday and insulted you for their mistake. Keitaro, while I'm not saying that they are in the right doing that to you, I will say that you should get over it. Things like this happen every day." Haruka calmly answered.

"It's not just that they forgot my birthday, it's what they said about me behind my back. I don't know if I can face them again, not without breaking down. But I can't leave them, I've got my obligations and if I run from them I'll never forgive myself, and they will chase me down and drag me back whether I want to go or not." Keitaro almost cried out.

Haruka sighed and put out her cigarette before leaning over and hugging her nephew. "Keitaro, I worry about you, aside from almost being killed every five minutes by their physical abuse, you also take the mental and emotional abuse in stride. You are such a nice person and I'm afraid that slowly, day by day, they are robbing you of who you are. I want you to be happy but I don't know how to help you."

"I don't know Haruka, I don't know, I would take a vacation but Kitsune keeps on spending my money while not paying any rent, and the only reason I get attacked is because I'm always in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wish there was a way to avoid them while not disregarding my duties as the land lord." Keitaro nearly cried as he said this.

Haruka held onto her nephew for a few minutes while he emotionally wound down, these were the times that he truly opened up. She truly cared for her nephew and wished that there was someway that she could make him happy, anything at all. None of the others could possibly understand him like she could, and every time she saw this side of her nephew she always felt a pang of guilt for letting it continue on like this, he was way too sweet, and often found herself wondering why they couldn't see that part of him. She knew that if they knew him like she did, not one of them would sit by and let him be as lonely and miserable as he was, there were even times she envied Naru because she not only held his heart, but also stood a chance with him.

"I'm sorry, Keitaro, I wish that there was something that I could say or do that would make this easier on you, but there isn't." at that point she leaned down to give him a quick peck on the cheek only for her lips to find his as he turned his head to look at her.

Pulling back Haruka could see the shock on his face, but the brief feeling of his lips on hers had sent a shrill through her body and she couldn't resist the urge to lean in and kiss him again, and again. He kissed back of course, just as awkwardly as she did but it was getting harder and harder for her to resist kissing him and not long after she had slid onto his lap to have better access to his lips, and soon they both fell into the situation they found themselves in. Haruka began feeling a familiar desire deep within her body, a powerful feeling that refused to be ignored once released. Everyone always said that they loose coherent thought whenever it came to these things, but she knew better, it's just that you want something very badly, and if you want it enough at that time, you will do anything to get it.

'Is this really all that bad? I know he's in a state where he needs to feel that someone loves him, and I do care about my nephew. But I don't want to use him just because I want sex. But I don't want to make him feel rejected either, but it would be nice even if it's just for tonight.' A mental fight raged inside her over what to do.

Keitaro suddenly pulled back as guilt overwhelmed him making him feel like he was taking advantage of his aunts' kindness.

"I'm so sorry Haruka, I just... Well... It won't happen again." He said to her in a very dejected tone.

Anger flared inside of her at his actions and she listened to her instincts and lashed out at her nephew feeling this was his fault, grabbing his hand she forced it to her breast and her face to his.

"Now you listen to me, and you listen good. Nobody is to blame for starting this, and if I wanted to I could have stopped what we were doing anytime I wanted, Just like right now." Haruka emphasized the moment by forcing his hand against her a bit harder. "So if anything, I should apologize to you. But I'm not, because I really do care about you, enough to not regret doing these things, no matter how shameful.

"Now, no more whimpering, no more apologies, no more arguing." Haruka spoke in a soft tone as she again leaned into her nephew bringing her lips close to his while staring into his eyes. "If you don't want to continue, just walk away. Otherwise, don't make any excuses." Capturing his lips with hers again she started out gently with a short kiss before leaning in to give him a full kiss on the lips, using her free hand she brought Keitaros' other hand to her other breast.

Slipping her arms around him the two remained like that for a few more minutes, Haruka encouraging her Nephew to be more bold with her as she made out with him before she gave him a long passionate moment before finally separated from him. Looking at her nephew, she felt as if there was only one more loose end to cover, standing up she gently took his hand and looked him in the eye.

"Keitaro, I know that I am your aunt, but if you want, you can stay here tonight. I don't mind at all if you do." Haruka spoke to him in a kind and loving voice.

Looking up at her he just slowly nodded as a smile replaced the frown on his face and a look of happiness radiated from his eyes which slowly made her melt on the inside.

Taking his hands she stood up and slowly started guiding him towards her room, stopping on occasion to give him a kiss.

'This feels so surreal, I can't believe that I'm going to do this, but it feels so right. I guess this could be considered his present, but it would feel wrong to call it that. Oh well, Happy Birthday Keitaro.' and with that thought finished Haruka slid the door to her room closed to keep out prying eyes.

(I would like to thank leowolfj for his amusing review and the support it gave that finally made me get up off my ass and post this story, the amusement comes from the fact he made the request on my birthday. I'm actually 4 chapters into this with two versions of chapters 2 and 3 right now and would probably have written the whole story before posting it here, I'm probably going to splice them together to make the final versions of them, hope you enjoy and I'll be silently listening to any reviews I might get)


	2. Chapter 2

(Disclaimer: Look at the first chapter. I do NOT, repeat NOT, as in no way will ever consider doing so, write lemons, so be satisfied with what you do get and don't request me to write any, you want a Lemon go write one yourself. Oh and on a side note, I hate this sites' doc manager, it destroys all my fancy formatting so I have to go back and practically reformat the story 5 times to get it halfway decent.)

Collision

"Haruka." He called out to her tenderly.

"Call me, Aunt Haruka." she whispered back

"Aunt Haruka." he said with a bit more fondness this time as he then leaned in and kissed her.

The sheer taboo they were performing only heightened their pleasure as they concentrated on each other, and over, and over again.

10010110

Haruka slowly woke up, and stretched, looking down to the person that lay beside her she couldn't help but smile. Last night had been a wonderful experience for her and she allowed the sheer bliss of the situation to fill her. Resisting the urge to wake the sleeping body to her right she instead slid out of the futon and walked to the bathroom.

Once inside Haruka turned on the shower and climbed inside of it as she again mulled over the previous night, this time more slowly as if to savor each and every moment, a rare smile finding its way onto her face.

'He may not have been the best, or the biggest. But for his first time it was decent.' a slight pang of guilt struck her. 'That's right, this was his first time, and I'm the one who took it from him. It kinda makes me feel like a thief because I know this wasn't mine, and now he will never know what it's like for two to have their first time together.'

This was not the first time she felt a little guilty over what they had done. From the start she knew he was a virgin and she expressed this concern.

"It's okay. I'm glad my first time will be with you." his words echoed inside of her head.

'He's such a sweet guy, always thinking of others, even in the heat of the moment.' letting the memory of his concern for her as she pulled and held him in tightly against herself several times throughout the night wash over her, filling her with an inner warmth and comfort.

Turning off the water and stepping out of the shower Haruka walked over to the sink and reached inside the medicine cabinet to grab her toothbrush and some tooth paste when her gaze fell upon a bottle. A slight scowl crossed her face as instead of her intended target she instead lifted the container up to look at the offending label.

'That's right, we didn't use protection, and I'm really close to that time right now.' Haruka closed her eyes and sighed as she contemplated pregnancy. 'Not really something I'm looking foreword to, but on the other hand this could be my last chance to have a baby. But what about Keitaro, he'd probably let his morals get in the way and refuse to leave my side and that would just cause him a world of hurt. Then there's also our family, what would they think, more importantly, what would they do? I wouldn't be able to hide it forever, but at the same time I don't want to ruin what happened last night, or harm the baby if there's one already in there. What to do, what to do.' Haruka thought as her emotions washed back and forth, crashing into each other with equal force.

10100101

Keitaro slowly drifted back to the land of the living from his pleasant slumber. Memories of the night before lazily wafted through his head as he slowly opened his eyes. Sitting up he felt around the side of him and found his glasses, placing them on his head he felt a small smile stretching his face. Sighing and tilting his head back he relived the experience before looking down to where Haruka was laying only a few moments ago.

Finding the spot lacking a certain individual he almost began to search the room when he heard the shower running.

'That sounds nice, I think I'll take one too.' Dirty thoughts assaulted Keitaro as he mulled this over.

Shaking them free he was about to stand up when the shower suddenly turned off. Pausing for a few moments he then cautiously lifted himself from the floor before walking to the bathroom door. As Haruka came into view he caught a glimpse of the prescription bottle she held in her hand and a serious expression on her face. A slight feeling of dread washed over him as he crept foreword and risked a look at the label.

'Birth control pills! Oh no, I didn't did I?' A wave of fear and worry flooded Keitaros mind as paranoia settled in. 'What would Mom and Dad think, what would the girls think? I am so dead when they learn of this, and what about Haruka? I just ruined her life, she probably hates me now.' struggling with his emotions Keitaro reached out and placed a hand on her arm to get her attention.

"Haruka, I... I... I'm sorry for... Well, you know..." It was hard to put it all into words, the enormity or it all, and all his apology seemed to do was make her angry.

"Sorry, Sorry, Is that all you can say to me Keitaro? After everything that happened all you can say is 'Sorry'." She yelled in his face as he backed up.

"Look, about that." Keitaro said pointing to the bottle in her hand.

"Oh, is that what is concerning you?" The anger in her voice didn't die down as she opened the bottle and dumped nearly all of it's contents out into her hand, several of the pills falling to the ground joined by even more as she then clutched her hand so she could throw as many she could into her mouth and swallowed them. "There, ya happy now?" Haruka said as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Now get out!"

Taking a step forward she threw the bottle at him, it's collision with his chest causing a few of the remaining pills to fall out. "I said get out! I don't want to see you." Feeling rejected and broken hearted Keitaro slowly turned around and gathered his clothes, Harukas' light sobbing filling the background, he was exiting the room when she spoke up again.

"I can't believe I slept with you."

00101101

Naru sat at the table finishing up her breakfast, this was a very uneventful and rather boring breakfast at the dorm. Mainly due to the lack of the usual punching bag, she had gone to visit him last night to see what was bothering him but couldn't find him. She initially shrugged it off as he was probably busy with something, but when nobody could find him for breakfast this morning she began to get worried.

Despite her constant criticism of him she actually really liked him and right now she was really worried, it was getting close to the time they both had to leave for class with no sign of him anywhere.

"Oh, don't worry so much about him. It'll give you wrinkles." Teased Kitsune

"What? I'm not worried about him, if that idiot wants to be late for class and get kicked out of school it's no big deal for me." Naru lied while trying to cover up her real concern. 'Idiot, you promised me.'

"Oh, don't worry Naru, he probably just went out and got lucky with some lady." Teased Kitsune.

This infuriated Naru to no extent, but just before she could react the front door slid open and shut. They watched as Keitaro, whom they noticed looked very disheveled and incredibly upset, then hurried through the living room and up the stairs without saying a word to them.

"That vile pervert, who did he take advantage of this time?" Motoko stood up quickly and was about to go after him to exact her justice when Kitsune put a hand on her arm.

"Relax, he just probably wound up going home with a guy and was too drunk to realize it." Kitsune continued to tease. "Or maybe he knew it was another guy and he went home with them because he's actually gay."

With that Naru slammed down her rice bowl and excused herself from the table. She was just about to the door when Keitaro came tumbling down the stairs and hit the floor right in front of her.

"Ow." Was his only response.

"You're such a klutz." Naru said to him before noticing his position could give him a clear view up her dress. "You Pervert." she yelled at him before punting him out the front door. "I'll see you guys after school." Naru spoke back to her fellow tenants with a smile and a wave before fallowing Keitaro.

Naru rushed out the door and down the steps. The morning air whisking around her, moving past Harukas' tea shop that was bustling with it's usual flow of morning customers. She reached the bottom of the stairs, turned and made her way to the train station and just as the train doors were closing, an out of breath Keitaro rushed into the car and sat down next to her.

"So, where did you go last night?" it was a non-chalant and restrained question even though she just wanted to shake the answer out of him.

"I don't really wanna talk about it." She was not going to take that sitting down.

Jumping up and pointing an accusing finger at him she began her tirade.

"What do you mean? We were all worried sick because you didn't even have the courtesy to tell us where you were going. Then you don't even get back until this morning, now tell me where you went." Standing with an air of authority around her she continued to glare at her landlord, demanding he answer her question.

Instead of replying he just sat there in silence. Naru eventually gave up an sat back down next to Keitaro, the two rode in silence, but even so Naru couldn't help but steal a glance or two at Keitaro along the short trip.

'Keitaro, I wish you'd open up to me. Tell me what's wrong, I wanna know. But I guess it's still too fresh, so I'll give you until after class, then I'll get my answer even if I have to pry it out of you by force.' Naru closed her eyes and began planning on what to say on their walk home from Toudai.

11101000

Haruka pulled a cigarette out of her apron and lit it. Taking a deep breath she let the toxic and cancerous tar and fire fill her lungs as the nicotine sated the painful addiction it forms. Releasing it she sat down on a stool, the morning rush having ended it would only get slower the later it got in the day. At this particular moment she had only a few customers who were finishing up the last of their meals giving her plenty of time to think.

She was still upset about this morning, but not at her nephew like she was at the time, instead she was upset with herself. Shortly after he left, reason slowly began to reassert itself in her brain. The first thing she did was force herself to puke up the pills she swallowed so the quantity she swallowed wouldn't poison her. Then after cleaning up the mess that had been made with the rest of them she realized what Keitaro was trying to say.

She felt like crap for saying what she did, and it didn't go away either, it just sat there, eating her alive, making time drag on and on slower and slower. She could have sworn that her watch, clock, and cell phone were all 4 hours off but knew better.

'Damnit, how can those girls live with this? They hurt and abuse Keitaro all day long everyday and go on with their lives, and I have one misunderstanding with him and it feels like I'm made of lead.' Haruka looked up in time to thank the last few customers before moving to clean up their tables.

'Haruka, I... I... I'm sorry for... Well, you know...'

It still echoed in her head, at the time she thought Keitaro was going to be like everyone else she cared about and use then leave her. She had taken his words and put them to the wrong meaning. He was apologizing because he felt she was mad at him for what they did, but she assumed he was apologizing out of disgust for what they did.

So she lashed out and pushed him away, she was going to force as much pain on him for doing that to her as she could. But she had misinterpreted his words, after he had left she realized that he wasn't trying to leave her, but was trying to apologize for what he felt was him forcing her and hurting her, and all she did with bursting out like that was make him feel even worse and confirm his feelings of guilt that he ruined her life.

'There isn't much I can do right now, but later on tonight I'm going to have to apologize to him for lashing out like that. He was being his kind, caring self and I just hurt him for it, I feel so low.' Haruka was distracted as another customer entered her shop.

Pushing herself off the wall she proceeded to greet the new customer and went about performing her job.

11001100

Keitaro walked towards the train depot slowly, class had felt like an eternity to him, but it couldn't be helped. Instead of waiting for Mutsumi and Naru he decided to walk alone today so that he could think in peace. His head and heart were both turbulent storms and he knew that there was no one to help calm them, not this time, if anyone learned about what happened they would turn on him in an instant. A hand fell on his shoulder, it wasn't very hard but to him it was about equal to a power line crashing onto his shoulder, after nearly being shocked into his grave, figuratively speaking, he got a good glimpse of the person behind him.

"N-Naru, it's you." He sighed in relief.

"What do you mean it's just me?" the reply was dripping in venom. "And why didn't you wait for me, are you that desperate to get laid?" She had no idea where it came from or what her statement meant to him.

"I don't want to talk about it." it was true he didn't want to talk about it, in fact he would rather it was left in a dung pile on some farm.

"Oh no, I gave you plenty of time to feel sorry for yourself, now you're going to open up to me and tell me all." she started to crack her knuckles.

"Just leave me alone, that's all I want right now." he muttered this ignoring all the danger signs.

"Wish granted." Naru said as she punched him as hard as she could, he was sent soaring a few blocks before landing on the ground with a thud.

Standing up and dusting himself off Keitaro decided that he wasn't going to head straight back to Hinata, and slowly began to wander around. Maybe he could find something to help him out of this slump he was in.

00011101

Haruka was sweeping the front patio of her shop when Naru walked past, obviously coming from a hard day at Toudai, and yet another fight with her nephew. The young girl was mumbling under her breath and clearly agitated. But as of yet her Nephew had not shown himself, he would usually be groveling at the girls feet by now even if she had sent him on one of his trips.

"Hey Naru, where's Keitaro I need to talk with him." Naru turned around, the agitation in her eyes clearly making the older woman feel uncomfortable.

"He hasn't come by here yet?" Before Haruka could reply Naru huffed and continued. "Probably with his new lover then, that sick bastard."

"What makes you so sure he's with someone else?"

"He ran off last night and didn't come back till early this morning and when he showed up he was a mess, what else do you think could have happened?"

"He was over here last night." Haruka began when Naru interrupted her.

"Ah-hah, so he took advantage of you and..." Naru cut off as Harukas fan flew across the path and smacked her on the head. "Ow, what was that for."

"He came over here to talk with me, he was feeling rejected because nobody remembered his birthday. We talked for a while and I gave him his present, afterwards I had him do some work for me, we lost track of time and before either of us knew it, it was morning. We were both tired and got into a big argument over something stupid so I kicked him out of my shop." Well, it wasn't a lie, just the truth with a few omitted details.

"Oh, I see, so yesterday was his birthday. That explains allot, But why didn't he just say so instead of skulking around like he did?" Naru soon fell deeply in thought.

"Look, if you see him just let him know that I want to talk with him, ok?"

"Alright Haruka, I'll let him know." Naru said with a wave before heading off.

Haruka watched Naru for a few moments before letting out a breath. That had gone smoother than she expected and probably got her nephew off the hook, she just hoped it didn't put him on the cutting board.

11100001

Keitaro stumbled home, he had found a bar and decided to have a drink or two, but that was hours and five pitchers ago. He reached Harukas tea shop and stopped, almost instantly sobering up at the sight. Shame washed over him and an awkward air swallowed and flowed around him, Hearing Haruka talking he quickly dove onto a side path. He watched as she emerged long enough to take a look around then head back inside. Not wanting to be seen by her, he kept to the path and made his way to the Hinata. Stumbling inside he found his way to the kitchen and dug into the fridge for any leftovers.

A plate that was wrapped up with a note that it was his, as well as a quick notation to Su not to eat it brought a light smile to his face. Placing it in the microwave Keitaro leaned against the counter while waiting for his food to warm up. He had plenty of time to meditate on the situation, it was still something he wanted to avoid, wished he could hide but felt that all it could do was go down hill from here. He could swear he felt his life circling the drain, circling, circling, around and around and, Keitaro turned towards the sink and puked.

Once that was over he wiped his mouth and cleaned up the mess before grabbing the food from the microwave and sitting down to eat it. Winding up picking at it more than actually eating it his thoughts turned to the exact same steps he just went through, puking then eating, just like a woman does when they get pregnant, his mind simply fallowed the line down to the mornings events and at that point Keitaro lost his apatite completely. Disgusted with himself for ruining his aunts' life like that he pushed the plate aside and rested his head in his hands, slowly the tears leached themselves from his eyes and guilt continued to pound at him like a blacksmiths power hammer. It took a few minutes before he stood up and after cleaning up his dishes entered the common room.

"Urashima, prepare to die." Motoko leapt off the railing and struck him with a Ki attack.

Hitting his back against a wall he looked up in time for the lights to come on revealing almost all the residents of the dorm, except for Naru. Kitsune and Motoko both held a venomous look on their face while Shinobu had one of doubt, Su as always was playful.

"What did you do to Naru-Sempai you perverted scum?" Motoko demanded.

"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about?" Keitaro looked up at them.

"Don't play innocent, Naru came home, barely said anything to any of us then left, clearly upset and muttering about something you did, and has been gone for hours, so what did you do, take her out and have your way with her?" Kitsune accused.

"Huh? But she, the argument, and then she, so I, the bar." Keitaro tried to explain but it all came out in short words.

"Enough of this, Urashima, prepare to meet your ancestors." Motoko breaking from her usual habits sliced the air horizontally instead of vertically so that a broad wave of Ki struck Keitaro knocking him down instead of flinging him across the room. before he could pull himself up Kitsune pushed on his back with her foot and forced him back to the ground.

"Look, we can overlook last night, but taking Naru to a bar and getting her drunk so you can have your way with her isn't going to be that easy. She's my best friend and I'll be damned if You're going to get away with this."

"But, that's not..." He didn't get much farther before Kitsune and Motoko encircled him so that they could punish him for something he didn't do.

00101101

Keitaro found himself sitting alone at a bar, everything around him but his seat and the wooden ledge in front of him was black so he couldn't see anything or anyone, not even a bartender. He didn't remember how he got here nor did the fuzzy feeling in the back of his skull really let him use any of his higher thinking processes right now, looking down he found a small mug of beer in his hands. Lifting the mug up he drank its contents without question, somewhere between the time he started drinking and the time he put the mug down two more had appeared on the counter almost as if they popped out of nowhere. Looking at the mug he had just emptied he found it full again, lifting it up he drank it's contents again. Sitting it down on the counter there were now seven mugs, some of them stacked on top of each other like a mini pyramid. Not bothering to question how they got there he lifted the mug in his hand again, and found eleven mugs on the counter when he put it down. This repeated itself over and over again each time more and more mugs would appear stacking up on each other and obscuring his view of the black nothing around him that much more while the one he was drinking from would never seem to stay empty.

10101010

Opening his eyes from the strange dream Keitaro lifted himself out of the thorny bush he found himself in. Rubbing his head he could not fathom how he got there in the first place, standing up he found himself in the middle of a forest near a small stream. Walking towards it he splashed some water on his face to help clear his mind. Looking into the water he was shocked by what he saw.

Various insults were written on his arms and face in permanent marker, clothes were torn and from the looks of it by sword slashes and Ki strikes, there were marks on his wrists and over his mouth from duct tape. The cool morning air on his back as well a stinging sensation let him know that he had been whipped by something. Several burns also adorned his sides and legs and were obviously the work of Su, Sarah liked to write stuff on his face from time to time, but allot of these words he hoped she didn't know. He knew the slashes and shredding on the front of his clothes were from Motoko, and the duct tape and whipping, Su and Kitsune, he couldn't place who. Shaking his head in his hands for a few minutes wondering why they would do something like this, memories of last night came back to him. Bits and pieces mostly, the last memory was from a Naru punch off the roof of Hinata Sou among various degrading and humiliating comments and actions.

Keitaro dropped his hands to his lap slowly as the memories filled him. Fighting with his emotions for several minutes he eventually couldn't hold back his tears anymore as he curled up on the forest floor and cried out his misery there. He wasn't wanted anywhere, his parents kicked him out, Haruka was pissed at him and would probably decapitate him if she ever saw him again, everyone at the hinata Sou hated him and would rather kill or maim him rather than live with him, and he didn't want to intrude on Mutsumi.

Laying on the forest floor Keitaro lost track of time while he debated about his options. Living on his own was not an option right now, besides he still had several responsibilities to take care of at the Hinata dorm. He couldn't just kick everyone out of the dorm either, where would they go? Keitaro struggled with his options until a familiar clicking sound caused him to open up his eyes.

"Mo-Chan?" Looking around he heard it again and found it to only be a bird, laying back down his gaze fell on an ant hill. As he thought about how simple their lives were moving in and out of their tunnels and working hidden from the world it struck him. 'There are tunnels running through Hinata Sou, leading to all kinds of rooms. If I use them I could still live in the dorm, and avoid the girls all together while I do my work.'

It was a good plan, Su and Sarah had given up on mapping the tunnels when they learned that many of them just led you around in circles making it seem as if there were miles and miles of them when there really wasn't. An old trick the ninja used to devise into their larger structures to confuse any intruder that found the passages, often leading to one or more different sets of passages usually hidden inside of each other. He could use the tunnels to hide and move around the old inn and he would just wait until nobody would be around before doing his chores. Standing up Keitaro brushed his clothes off and began to head back towards the Hinata Sou, it looks like what little he learned of his families martial arts were going to have a purpose anyways.

01010101

Naru sat on the couch overly infuriated, not necessarily at the resident landlord, but also at her friends for not thinking that she could take care of herself. The last several hours were slowly teaching her a very tedious and very valuable lesson in her life. The memory of last night again played through her head as to why she was sitting here for most of the day waiting for that ignorant klutz to get back home.

She had been engrossed when she got back yesterday about what to get Keitaro for a late birthday present. She learned that Haruka had gotten him a watch, and there was little else she could think of to get him, it both surprised and disturbed her to no end how he knew everyone well enough to almost always know what to get them as a gift, and how she knew everyone knew so little about him that she doubted they could to do the same. Unable to decide she had left to go to a nearby mall in the hopes that she could find something that he would like, and once she got there still couldn't find anything she thought he would like, so she did some window shopping. While in one of the many shops she found a nice alligator skin wallet made in America and having seen his from time to time when he would either be blackmailed or tricked into giving Kitsune a loan she would never repay it was looking like it was falling apart and wouldn't last much longer.

Purchasing the wallet Naru had giggled and felt bit giddy over the thought of how he would love the present and would cheer up and become more like the Keitaro she loved... 'No, no, no, I don't love him, he's just a friend.' she berated herself as she shook her head.

When she got home and found the living room was a wreck she figured it was the work of a very clumsy landlord and a very angry female Samurai. Making her way upstairs she heard allot of noise coming from the roof. As she got closer she kept hearing both Kitsune and Motoko cursing the usual insults at Keitaro, she eventually made her way to the roof and found a tied and gagged Keitaro hanging from the clothes rack being whipped by Kitsune and slashed at by Motoko. Several Insults were written on his body in permanent ink Sarah was kicking his shins and Su had obviously lost interest in the Keitaro piñata and was off somewhere else; Shinobu was nowhere to be seen. He looked to be crying from the abuse, he wasn't yet bleeding, no big surprise as the only time she ever saw blood from him was when he was caught doing something perverted.

"You vile pervert, tell us what you did to her so we can give appropriate justice." Motokos voice accused him clearly as he struggled to answer her against his gag.

Clearing her throat Naru got the attention of her friends. "And what did he do this time?"

"There you are Naru, we were getting worried, are you all right?" Kitsune asked stopping her ministrations on the landlord.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Naru said looking at her friend like she was crazy.

"Don't you remember? He took you to a bar then molested you, you ran out of here really upset over it several hours ago." Motoko bluntly replied. "Don't tell me you're just going to forgive him for doing that."

"What are you talking about, I haven't been to a bar in weeks and even if he did try something like that I can take care of myself." Naru defended.

"Well, you wouldn't say anything and then you ran out mumbling about Keitaro so we just assumed." Kitsune began defending while Naru started to untie Keitaro.

Ripping the Duct tape off his mouth she began to turn towards them. "Look I'm flattered and all but if he ever did do something to me trust me, you'd be the first ones to know."

"Oh thank you Naru, I'm so glad that you." Keitaro began in a slur, the smell of alcohol on his breath overwhelming her senses."

"Shut up." and she punched him, causing him to soar off the roof and into the nearby forest. She watched as Keitaro played pin ball with several of the trees only to wind up out of sight. "Oh great, now I have to wait till he gets back to give him his present."

"WHAT?" Kitsune and Motoko both yelled at her, and she knew then that she had some explaining to do.

'And that's how I wound up sitting here nearly all day long.' Naru looked up at the clock on the wall extremely disgruntled. It was a weekend and Toudai was closed so she didn't have to worry about missing any classes. Every so often she would go stretch her legs to keep them from cramping, on one such bout she learned that Haruka was still waiting to talk with Keitaro. By the way she kept on insisting about it as well as the urgency the older woman put behind it, it had to be something bad.

But even still, if he thought that he could keep her waiting like this and not pay for it he had another thing coming, she was going to make sure that he was going to both get his present and talk to Haruka because she was going to beat him with it until he finally landed inside of her tea shop.

(Thanks for the reviews and attention, but I would like to clarify that this story takes place in the original continuity of Love Hina, you know the one where Keitaros dad was born to hina when she was 20 and Haruka to hina 15 years later. The one where Haruka's mom forced her to call her Obaasan or old woman/grandmother rather than mom o the point she dislikes he nephew calling her Obasan or aunt/middle aged woman because of the resemblance of the two words. Not the later post original story where they corrected her calling her mom granny hina by saying she is the adopted daughter of Hina's first daughter and her second daughter married Keitaros dad, compared to that the original story, good luck finding any of the original fansubs done by Liddo-kun that are 97 percent accurate and even offer insight into the series in footnotes as well as any original translated manga. Just thought you'd like to know which LH Universe this takes place in.)


	3. Chapter 3

(Disclaimer: Look at the first chapter. Also I would like to again note I hate this sites' document manager as once again I've had to reformat my entire story so it is half way readable. Also to any reader that thought the Lemon comment was directed to them, that has actually been there for 2 years and I didn't see the need to remove it, thats right, I wrote chapter 2 that many years before I put it on here, and chapter one is 3 years old, this is only 1 year old though. But as for the feel of the last chapter, this chapter was originally attached to it but I broke it up for the overall flow of the story, enjoy.)

Life moves on

It had been three long weeks since that day. Three long agonizingly tense and incredibly upsetting weeks since that day. Naru sighed while ridding the train back to the Hinata while staring out the window, she had explained to everyone what was going on and they all ended up planning a wonderful late birthday party. They had all gone out and bought him different presents and even tried to make as much noise as possible. Keitaro never did show up though, in fact she was the only one to see him during these past three weeks, well except for Mutsumi whom she saw having a few brief talks with him during lunch. Haruka still wanted to talk with him, badly. However other than seeing him during class Naru couldn't get close enough to him to talk before he vanished.

The hole between their rooms had been sealed; the entire floor had been pulled up and replaced. The door to his room was also locked all of the time as well. They broke it down once only to find an empty room, however the lack of seeing Keitaro around the dorm didn't mean his chores didn't get done. The building was almost always clean, broken or loose parts of the building were fixed. It was creepy how it all got fixed too, one day Motoko destroyed the balcony rail on accident, they all decided to fix it after lunch, but when they got back up there it was already fully replaced.

Watching the damage or dirt didn't help much either but it seemed that as soon as you turned your back even for an instant it was fixed. At first everyone thought it was a ghost or a stalker, Motoko didn't detect anything useing any of her rituals and a stalker doing the repairs made no sense; then they thought Keitaro had borrowed one of Su's stealth suits, but she still had all of them so nobody could quite figure it out. They thought that if Keitaro was the one doing the work they would draw him out into the open and tried just about every trick in the book from bathing together in the hot spring for hours on end, to walking around half naked, calling out his name, and even making extra large portions of his most favorite food and threatening to eat it all if he didn't show up. None of it worked and the withdrawal of the Keitaro euphoria weighted down on everyone heavily. Just like a TV during a blackout, the Hinata was complete and fully functional, but without a source of electricity it was just another boring old building.

Naru had tried to catch up to him after school nearly everyday but he always somehow ended up disappearing into the crowd right after class, she had also tried sitting by him in class but by the time she got to where he was he had moved to the other side of the room, as if he had a Naru radar. At one point they posted guards at the front, back, kitchen, and any other door but he never did come in through any of them so nobody had any idea how he got in and out of Hinata Sou, if he was even still there. Su occasionally tried her Keitaro tracker, but it would always track down Tama instead, every once in a while she got another signal, but nothing was ever where it was coming from. Everyone felt a clutching in her chest told them just how much each and every one missed him, and every girl wondered where he was and what possessed him to avoid them like this, the possibilities were all very real, and all very scary, leading nobody to blame but themselves for his disappearance.

00011101

Walking up the steps of the Inn Naru sighed. 'How can he avoid us so easily, I've never known anyone that was as big a pain to say even a sentence to as he is right now.' Memories of how she had skipped out of class earlier today in an attempt to ambush him when the it finally let out, only for him to once again slip out unseen at the back entrance that Mutsumi was supposed to be watching. By the time the class had ended he had distracted Mutsumi with a walking conversation which ended with him leaving her at the schools entrance, and Naru watching from the third floor as he took off, she had a long talk with the watermelon girl afterwards too. 'What is that Idiot trying to do; doesn't he realize how worried everyone is over him? He's such an inconsiderate jerk and when I see him again I'll, I'll' Naru sighed in defeat. 'Yeah, and that's why he's avoiding us like the plague, can't really blame him for that.'

"Naru..."

'Who could blame him for avoiding us after the way we treated him.'

"Naru..."

'I wonder if he's even still at the Hinata.'

"Hey, Naru..."

'I mean all the chores and repairs get done but it's almost as if the Inn was doing them itself.'

"Hey, I'm trying to talk to you Naru."

'We even tried figuring out how he does it and posted guards at every entrance to the room and even one inside, had Tama who always seems to find Keitaro mounted with a camera so we could catch him, but even with all of that we still didn't see how or who fixed it, and Motoko said she just sneezed, and it was fixed.' That's when the handle of a broom collided with the back of her skull "Ow, who threw that?"

"I did." Haruka said from behind Naru, the older woman was in the process of pulling out another cigarette "It's rude to ignore people when they are trying to talk with you."

"Sorry about that." Naru weakly laughed "So what do you need?"

"I need to talk with my Nephew, have you been able to corner him yet?" Haruka used a lighter from her apron to light the pungent cancer stick

"No, he tricked Mutsumi into letting him go, I swear that girl is about as dense as lead and is a total helium head."

"Helium head?" Haruka asked in concern

"One step beyond air head." Naru was quick to explain

"Ahh, get the other Girls to help you out, one at each door, and one watching the windows should do it."

"I would, but the others have school themselves which only leaves Kitsune, and she can't do it because if you're not a student of or work at Toudai you can't be on campus for very long without being questioned by security, which leaves it up to me and Mutsumi. Why the window?" Naru said looking up at the older woman finally catching her statement. "If he escaped from there he'd fall to his death."

"It's Keitaro, when has falling ever stopped him before?" Haruka simply stated. "Look, just get some of the other students to help you, if not we'll have to keep on trying to track him down."

"Alright, I'll try that one. Thanks Haruka." Naru said turning and continuing on her way up the steps leaving the older woman to watch her walk away from behind.

01110001

Run, jump, spin, land on the rail and jump off in the opposite direction, flip several times, land while holding the sword even with your chest and let the momentum of your next spin combined with the landing slice through the air, a wave of Ki releasing as it flew out of view in the distance. No time to stop, fall back, duck and roll to the side, slide upwards creating a small tornado of Ki before jumping up into the air again. Grab the rail to balance yourself before you fall off then use it as a guide, slide down to where your feet barely touch the roof and propel yourself up. Sheath your sword and tuck and roll into a somersault one two three, push upwards drawing your sword, spin around and slash.

CRACK.

The sound of the deck beginning to crack under the force of he Ki told Motoko it was time to stop practicing the advanced combat maneuvers, any more and there would no longer be a deck to practice on. Knowing it to be unhealthy for the body to go from high levels of activity to no activity Motoko began walking around the outskirts of the deck. Sheathing her sword one more time to free up a hand she picked up a towel and shortly after a sports bottle filled with water, she had spaced them out on the railing earlier just so she could fluidly pick one up after the other without having to stop.

Continuing around the outer rail Motoko eventually found her way down the steps to the third floor. Toweling off the sweat that she had worked up she took another drink from the bottle when her eyes caught something, or to be more specific someone. Quickly using the towel to clear any sweat or hallucination from her vision she then confirmed what her eyes were telling her was real. Standing directly in front of her was the elusive landlord Keitaro Urashima himself, he was currently placing a rag in the floor cleaning bucket and had his back to her, completely oblivious to the fact that she was standing at the end of the hall behind him.

Dropping the bottle, in surprise that she had actually caught the elusive prey she had been seeking, several short fantasies about capturing him and bringing him in so that the rest of the residents could find some way to keep him from vanishing again played through her head, along with a short romantic venture where he slipped out of her grasp and ran off with her instead. Motoko felt as if her brain blew up out of embarrassment for that one but came to as he began to turn to head down the adjoining hallway.

Dropping the towel to the floor Motoko acted fast, sprinting down the hallway, she was determined to track him down and capture him. As her pace quickened she unconsciously drew her sword lightly reasoning that she was going to incapacitate him to make things easier as he disappeared around the corner forcing her to loose sight of him briefly, only for the two seconds it took for her to cover the remaining distance. Trusting that in two seconds he would not be able to elude the great predator she was abruptly turning her body so she could slid on the sides of her heals for the last ten feet while turning to face down the other hallway she pointed her sword straight out in front of her and stood upright and confidant, ready to strike her unsuspecting prey much like a hawk to a field mouse.

"Urashima prepare to..." But all that greeted her was an empty hallway, no moving doors, no secret passages closing up, not even a flapping scroll or distant thud of someone landing on the ground, and definitely no manager. Feeling her self pale in embarrassment she then proceeded to swipe her sword across the air several times before sheathing it once more as her frustration at the audacity of what just happened began to boil over. "Damn that man."

A loud creak resounded behind her, spinning around Motoko watched as the roof support beam began to slide out from its corner post. Acting quickly Motoko leapt forward and grabbed hold of the pillar and began to push and hold it back into place.

"Naru, Kitsune, Shinobu, Su, Someone, Anyone, I need some HELP!" She yelled out for everyone to hear.

11000011

"I can't believe you let him out of your sight for two seconds and he disappeared, are you sure you weren't hallucinating?"

"What I can't believe is that she cut the corner support beam so carelessly, normally you're very careful with that thing."

"I still think he's playing hide and seek, don't worry, I'm an expert at this game."

Ever since Motoko was found holding up the roof so it wouldn't collapse it had been nothing but an interrogation, especially since Senpai seemed to have been there as well. Shinobu sank into the onsen a bit more as Motoko defended herself while Naru and Kitsune picked at the details of her story, and Su would stop to offer her theories about the elusive manager. However Shinobu had a theory of her own; but since the conversation between the three older girls had been borderline argument nearly from the beginning Shinobu pretty much kept her mouth shut not wanting to be pulled into the potential fight, she hated fighting so much.

"Hey, Shinobu, you in there?" Naru spoke up while waving her hand in front of her face.

Jolted out of her deep thoughts Shinobu jumped back and fell over into the hot springs; surfacing again she coughed some water out of her lungs before looking up at Naru.

"Sorry about that. Well, what do you think about this whole thing with Keitaro?" Kitsune and Motoko were standing behind her making her feel like she was being crowded into a corner.

"Um, well, you see." It took a while to formulate her thoughts and calm down enough to not stutter. "I think that Senpai is avoiding us, we have been pretty mean to him so he probably doesn't want to be near us at all."

"Nah, that doesn't sound like Keitaro at all, he's bounced back from worse than us forgetting something as simple as his birthday with more vigor than a rubber ball." Kitsune spoke while waving off Shinobus' statement.

"Who cares, the dork doesn't want to come out and be a man so just let him crawl into a hole and stay there."

"Let's play." Su jumped onto Sara before she could finish her tirade and the two of them got caught up in a game of water war tag shortly after.

"I dunno Kitsune, something was eating at him, something big and he didn't wanna share it with anyone, not even me. I bet it has something to do with why Haruka wants to talk with him."

"Now Naru, you're not suggesting that those two..."

"Of course not, why would I ever suggest something like that? Keitaro might be a pervert but I don't think he would ever stoop that low." Defended Naru.

"Knowing Urashima, he probably did. Just one more reason to Neuter him when we finally find him." To emphasize her point Motoko drew her sword and slashed it through the air causing Kitsune and Naru to duck.

"Hey, watch it with that thing; you already destroyed one of the roof supports without knowing it, what if you cut one of us?"

"Now that was a one time mistake Kitsune and you know it. Besides you leaving your bottles laying around is far more dangerous than my sword."

Shinobu slid out of the onsen and decided it was time to pay Haruka a visit, she never really got to talk with the older woman very often and perhaps she knew what was wrong with her Senpai. Wrapping a towel around herself she entered the changing room as the two older women argued over whose habits was more dangerous quickly escalated into a verbal fight.

01110100

Haruka sucked on her flaming cancer stick and released the repugnant smoke it produced, taking that much more time off her already short life. Closing her eyes for a second she rubbed her thumb and forefinger against the bridge of her nose trying to drive out the constantly building stress in her life. The last three weeks had left her with too many questions about life facts that it had considerably increased her stress level; she started smoking more but that only raised more questions that looped back into the first questions and heightened her stress level. It was a painful cycle and the fact that her nephew was somehow avoiding everyone around him only made things worse.

Looking out over the shop at the remaining guests she studied them closely. A young couple in love, talking and laughing over something, a small family of four eating at the table, one of the kids would start to cause a ruckus only to be reprimanded by their parents. An elderly couple sat in the corner of the shop, relaxing and enjoying each others company after having spent so much of their lives together. Before the incident with Keitaro these little things didn't bother her but seeing all of these people together like this and happily smiling and enjoying themselves were now making her very uncomfortable. Haruka figured that after these last few guests left that she could close up her shop for the night. Turning around she prepared to head into the kitchen to get some cleaning supplies when the bell over the door rang.

"I'm sorry we're closed you'll have to come back again tomorrow." Haruka said mechanically to the patron that had just walked in.

"Um, sorry, but I really want to speak with you Haruka, it's about Sempai." the meek little voice caused her to pause for a minute.

"Wait right here Shinobu I'll be right back." Sighing she put aside cleaning up the shop and instead grabbed some tea and a couple of cups before walking out and sitting at a booth with Shinobu. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me what you wanted to talk with Senpai about. That is if I'm not intruding or anything."

Groaning in frustration Haruka looked at the younger girl. "All of you still haven't found him? Wow he must really not want to be bothered." Noticing the discomfort on her face Haruka elaborated on her statement a bit more. "Keitaro is just going through a very difficult time right now; you see he feels that he is unwanted and unloved, even though he isn't. Allot of this comes from some individuals either not being able to positively show their affection for him, or not understanding what he is trying to say or do." 'I'm no exception either.' Haruka noted to herself with a tinge of disgust.

"Well, Motoko did threaten to neuter him, and she didn't say anything nice to him when she saw him in the hall today." This got Harukas attention.

"She saw him in the hall?"

"Yes he had finished cleaning the floor and was walked around a corner, Motoko charged after him but when she turned the corner he was gone..." Shinobu quickly explained.

'I see, he's probably using the old hidden network of tunnels to get around. If he knows them well enough then there's almost no telling where he could be.'

"Haruka-san. Could you please find him and get him to come back out? I really do miss him." Haruka stared at the young girl playfully. "We, we, I mean we, as in all of us at the Hinata Sou, Yup We all sure do miss him allot." Shinobu finished with a weak laugh.

"Alright I'll just have to see what I can do, thanks Shinobu, I'll try and find him for you ok?" The young girl nodded and rushed out of the shop.

Looking around Haruka noticed that there were no more customers in her shop and proceeded to lock the front door. Cleaning up their dishes Haruka spent the next few minutes cleaning table tops, scrubbing kitchen ware, and setting things up for tomorrow. When she was done Haruka entered the storage room while wiping her hands on her apron. Finding a rather large Pickling jar Haruka effortlessly moved it out of the way exposing a loose panel.

Staring at it for a short period of time Haruka finally made up her mind, grabbing a small flashlight she was going to go on a Keitaro hunt in the old hidden tunnels of the Inn.

**Like what you read? Want more? Enjoy more great stories from this author simply by clicking his name, that's right it's a link to his profile, from there just scroll on down to stories authored and enjoy the many stories he has written. Stories like the much anticipated and highly acclaimed and praised triple ending Love Hina story 'Ruined'. The as yet unfinished because "every time I get halfway through re-writing the 8****th**** chapter is vanishes from my drive and even an in depth search and document recovery program can't seem to find the damn thing" story titled 'Scar in my heart', to his first and most obscure and true to series Love Hina story 'Lingering Wounds', as well as several other fan fictions he has written. But not all since many he has deemed as "crap, crap, and more crap" or "unfinishable because the damn story can neither go on nor be wrapped up from here." He refuses to publish here, either that or he simply is too damn LAZY to publish them until three years after they were first written like the first three chapters of this story.**

(OK, next chapter I'm actually going to have to write soon so the updates will start to slow down, Let me know how I'm doing with the story, but keep in mind there will be no character bashing in my story since I like all the LH Characters. That and I see no reason for it since it only reinforces character misconceptions. As an old school Sonic fan I hate calling the main villain Eggman and honestly I think he's portrayed as more of a pushover comedic villain than when they portrayed him under the name Robotnik, doesn't change the fact I'm going to bash that Character in any of my stories.)


	4. Chapter 4

(Disclaimer: It's on the first chapter, deal with it

(Disclaimer: It's on the first chapter, deal with it. Thank you again for all the attention and the reviews, the good and the bad, it only encourages me to put out higher and higher quality work, please enjoy chapter 4)

Apologies Made

The onsen of Hinata-sou was lit only by the dim and distant glow of the half moon as it lazily drifted across the sky. Other than the sound of the length of bamboo as it struck the rocks once more after emptying the water it had been filled with from the slow flowing stream, the large bathing area was quiet. After a few minutes a sound of a board moving filled the air as a well hidden panel on the side of the building slowly moved to the side just enough for a small mirror at the end of a stick to be lowered, after slowly turning around exposing the total view of the hot spring the panel opened up even more and a lone male figure exited the now exposed hole.

Reaching back inside he then picked up a long handled brush and a bucket before closing the hole enough so it would not be noticed before quietly sneaking over to the facets and filling the bucket with water and soap. As the bucket filled Keitaro Urashima nervously looked around in all directions, the last thing he wanted right now were any more surprises, especially after nearly being caught in the hallway this afternoon by one of the tenants he least wanted to see. Turning the water off he then proceeded to clean the spacious bathing area.

Several minutes passed and Keitaro continued to keep an eye and ear open for any potential and unwanted intruders. As he made his way around the pool of hot water he would stop long enough to open and close several hiding places he had set up in case he needed to use one, after all he needed to be careful and always have one handy for an emergency escape. To simplify things he had taken to outright avoiding every one of the tenants as well as his aunt for as long as he could, but with their persistence as well as how much of a show they were putting on trying to find him there was so much temptation that there were times he found himself thinking about simply going back to them. He almost did when they put together that birthday party for him, he was so sorely tempted and had he not strengthened himself he would have fallen back into their clutches. But every time he found himself giving into the desire he willed himself to remember the cruel and humiliating mistreatment he had suffered at their hands and used those memories to act as a kind of safety net.

Moving to the next area of the onsen to be cleaned he closed one hiding place and opening another as he did his mind wandered back to earlier that day. He had carefully planned his schedule so that he could avoid everyone as much as possible while doing his chores, some things they hadn't made easy like fixing anything that was broken, but he had found that easy to over come with a little glue and how the place had been built. Another problem he had encountered was sleeping, he knew that if he slept in his old room that eventually they would barge in and find him, so he eventually moved his stuff out and into one of the hidden rooms next to the one Mo-chan was in, effectively cutting off any chance of being found without them going through the tunnels first.

Sighing Keitaro took a break and looked up at the inn, most particularly the third floor. 'I can't believe how close I came to being caught today, that was too close for comfort. If I had been even a split second later in closing the panel Motoko would have had me in her grasp.' Keitaro thought to himself. 'I need to be more careful than that, usually Motoko would train longer than that, but now I have to be extra careful cleaning that floor because they might start posting guards there too.' Keitaro again sighed remembering the many troubles he had run into while trying to keep the inn from falling into disrepair.

Avoiding the girls was getting to be hard because of the number of guards they would post and how thorough they were in how they would do it, he figured it would only be a matter of time before they started using permanent surveillance cameras to try and find him. He was tempted to borrow one of Su's stealth suits but was afraid that she had some kind of tracker for just such an occasion. Keitaro looked up and watched as a familiar green and yellow creature came flying his way, once it was within a short distance of him the familiar friend stopped and offered its own greeting.

"Mu." Tama said while raising one of her flippers.

"Hello Tama, nice to see you too." After giving her a treat from his shirt pocket the rare hot spring turtle settled on his head and proceeded to let him work.

Tama seemed to know what was going on and would avoid him if she was being used to try and find him. But other than that the happy turtle would always find him and try to keep him company, unlike the others she was the only female in the entire inn that no matter how hard he tried he never could seem to get away from. Shinobu was easy to avoid, even though he felt bad for avoiding her the way he did, Kitune the second easiest due to her inherent laziness. Su and Sarah were next on his list because they mostly thought of finding him as more of a game than anything else. Motoko was difficult to avoid, but predictable in her methods of searching and even though it was still hard to avoid her he had come up with a system that nearly guaranteed him a swift getaway.

Naru was the hardest to avoid, she was hell bent on finding him and her methods of searching were unpredictable and thorough, to make matters worse he couldn't bring the safety the tunnels gave him to the school with him, so far keeping an eye on her and moving around the class room so he was always opposite her while using his classmates as cover had done the trick but he knew that would only last for so long. Thankfully Mutsumi was an understanding person and would often times help him to escape by either distracting Naru or helping him get away.

A smile crept to his face at the thought of the girl, she had been more than happy to help him avoid Naru after he explained his desires and reasons to her. She had tried to ask him a few questions about how all this had happened but didn't push them when he gave her vague answers so he could keep what happened between Haruka and himself a secret. The young Okinawan even went so far as to let him escape Naru's traps by either warning him about them or pretending to forget what she was doing. He deeply appreciated what she was doing for him and to show that he had often brought her treats and would talk with her about all sort of things. It was nice to have some one like her to talk with after everything that had happened since he came here, it was almost therapeutic.

Finishing his cleaning Keitaro emptied the bucket into a drain and after gathering his supplies and closing the last hiding spot he re-opened the panel and moved back into the hidden tunnels of Hinata-sou, a faint wood click and the now clean springs being the only sign he was there as once again the piece of bamboo struck a rock after emptying its contents into the pool.

00101101

Haruka was making her way through the nearly pitch black halls keeping her eyes focused straight ahead and angling her flashlight in a way that let her see what was in front of her but limiting how much it lit up, that way if she found another source of light in the distance she could make the appropriate move. She honestly had no idea what her nephews' routine was, but was still determined on finding him. Unlike her nephew Haruka actually knew these tunnels very well, having not only the blue prints but the teachings of her mom and dad on how to figure out exactly where you were made navigating them as easy as the rest of the inn.

Of course she wasn't just searching blindly like the girls would have if they knew he was in here, she was paying attention to the floor. Despite making sure the public Hinata was clean and spotless, her nephew had left the years of dust on the floors of these tunnels and to Harukas trained eye she could read them like an open book.

Very faintly her and Seta along with Keitaro and two other people from when they had been exploring the tunnels, preserved after more than a decade, even though the years had made the tracks barely visible to the eye. Su and Sara's prints from their now abandoned and forgotten attempts to create a useful map were also filling with dust and slowly fading into memory. But she also came across more recent prints, these ones had barely any dust in them marking them as more recent, all of them a testament and further proof of what she already assumed, her nephew was definitely using them to his advantage.

Tracking him down like this almost made her feel like a tiger that had figured out how to get into the rabbits den, sneaking up on its prey, she wondered exactly how and where they would meet, if she would have to chase him into a corner or if she would have to pounce him. Maybe there would be no chase and he would simply surrender the hunt to her, or she could get the drop on him and catch him with little effort if he was going to put up a fight. She shook her head finding herself once again comparing this to how a hunter goes after their prey, it was quickly becoming a common theme in her search as once again her thoughts trailed to how she uses her flashlight. Careful and deliberate as not to give herself away too early like an expert huntress, she imagined he used his in the assumed protection of his hiding place, held out straight as to give him a clear line of sight down the hallway to catch sight of any possible threat to his thin wall of safety, just like an easily startled dear. Shaking her head once again having found herself distracted with thoughts of a non-existent hunt Haruka pressed forward in her quest to find her nephew as this analogy too began to fill her thoughts with unwanted analogies and eventually pulled her back into the thoughts of a hunt.

Even still these thoughts instilled a kind of euphoria that was almost intoxicating and fed primal forces and instincts that lay deep inside of her causing them to well up and claw at her consciousness, desperately trying to get her to give into them, but she adamantly refused, especially since Keitaro still had the advantage of her not knowing even the area he was currently in. That fact lone forced her to drive such things down whenever they surfaced as she carefully stalked through the halls. The way she figured it she should be coming up on the Onsen soon, figuring he was bound to clean it sooner or later and still having her tea shop to run putting time constraints on how long she could look she decided that looking there at night while everyone else was asleep was her best bet.

Reaching the corner Haruka slowly leaned over to look around it and smiled at her luck, blue light was currently filling the hallway as she watched her nephew walk in from it, she had to force herself not to rush up and tackle him on the spot as that would make more noise than she wanted and possibly bring unwanted attention to themselves, instead she would patiently wait for the right time to make her move. Turning off her flashlight she watched as he closed the panel that led to the outside. Ducking her head back just enough so that he wouldn't notice it she waited and watched as he then turned on his own flashlight.

Shining the beam down her direction briefly her heart skipped a beat, but soon after the light turned and she listened as he made his way down the opposite direction. Quietly emerging from her hiding place Haruka was quick to stalk after him, watching his moves carefully as she slowly made her way closer. He turned a corner and shortly after she did the same, keeping him in her sights as he made his way towards the kitchen. Eventually he stopped and reached to pull another panel open, sitting his flashlight aside she knew this was the chance she had been waiting for and quickly approached him while he was distracted with putting his cleaning supplies away inside of the closet the panel opened up into.

Just as he had finished closing the panel, giving himself no room to escape she made her move. Rushing forward she took hold of his upper arms and pushed him against one of the wooden support beams effortlessly. He released a quite humph when he hit and she continued forward until she had him pinned between her body and the wall, it was then that she could have sworn she felt a wave of terror pass through her nephew. Knowing that he might scream and all the tragic tales and stalling that would brink Haruka moved her mouth close to his ear and spoke quietly in precise measured control.

"Don't make a noise because I swear if you do, I will knee you as hard as I can in the one place that counts." It was a deliberate threat meant to keep him quiet so she could talk, licking her lips she tried to continue but found that she couldn't voice the well planned talk she had wanted. 'Damn it what's wrong with me. I had it all planned out too.' She felt her Nephew begin to tremble beneath her and knew that it was now or never, opening her mouth again she decided to wing it.

00011101

To say he was scared was an understatement; he had just barely finished placing the cleaning supplies away in the cabinet when suddenly he found himself pushed against a wooden beam with someone behind him, a very feminine someone. At first he thought it might have been Naru or Motoko who found him because of the fact that he didn't even know they were there until it was too late, he was about to scream out and struggle against whoever it was when she spoke up, each word causing his blood to run cold and his fear to reach new heights.

"Don't make a noise because I swear if you do, I will knee you as hard as I can in the one place that counts." He'd know that voice anywhere, and he helplessly watched as his life flashed before his very eyes.

Fear overwhelmed him as to what she wanted, nothing good came to mind as thoughts of torture, abuse, and even gruesome death filled his head. He had always though that Haruka would come after him to get her revenge for using and disgracing her the way that he did, he was still ashamed about what he had done to her but knew that there was no such thing as restitution for the crime he committed against his own blood relative. He only wished she would be merciful and grant him a quick death.

"Keitaro, we need to have a talk, and I mean right now." Her voice came out and he almost yelped when she spoke, his heart racing so hard it felt like it was about to burst. "Look, about what happened between us." She paused seemingly searching for words to describe her disgust. "I guess I may as well get to the point, I'm sorry for what I said to you." He almost froze, almost didn't believe that he heard what she just said.

"Look, my mind was in a different place when you walked in, and when you spoke, I took it the wrong way. I thought you were leaving me feeling disgusted and disappointed in me so I snapped, said and did things I shouldn't have, and once you were gone I realized just how big of a mistake I had made. I realized that you thought that you had hurt me, and I felt awful for what I did to you." She paused, and a wave of relief washed over him at her words and he could feel her grip on him loosen, taking advantage he turned around to face her and was about to say something when she spoke up again.

"Keitaro, I'd understand it if you continued to do things the way you are right now, I won't stop you or rat you out to the others. But I want you to know that if you ever need someplace to hide, or even just an ear to listen, that I'll be more than happy to help. I know things can never go back to how they were before we slept together, and there is no chance of a relationship between us because of our relation but. But I!" She began to break off, but he still understood what she was getting at.

"Haruka, I understand. I forgi…" Keitaro was suddenly cut off as Haruka firmly shoved her lips against his own.

Keitaro was taken back by the kiss, his eyes widened at her actions, yet he could feel that this was more of a kiss of trust and understanding, not the lust filled kisses they shared a few weeks ago. Yet there was something else hidden underneath, something almost tangible and he almost felt as if it would wash up to the surface but every time it seemed to get close the turbulent sea of the first two emotions seemed to violently drag it back under. He didn't know just how long she had her lips pressed against his but she soon broke the shared contact and took a half step back.

"Thanks, for understanding Keitaro, it means allot to me." As Haruka turned to walk away a deep urge to stop her compelled him to reach out and grab her by the wrist but when she turned to look at him he found himself at a loss for words.

"Hey, um, well." He began to stutter over himself before deciding on something to say. "What I'd like to say is that, well, you know…" he heard a soft chuckle escape her lips.

"Would you like to join me for a cup of tea back at the shop?" Keitaro stopped stumbling and muttering and gave her a nod, a broad smile formed on her lips so fast he almost didn't see it form. "Okay then, follow me."

Picking up his flash light he noticed that Haruka had her own already on, turning his off he then followed her back through the tunnels hoping that they didn't get lost as he sometimes would despite his growing familiarity with these things.

11001010

Haruka woke up and stretched, and allowed a rare smile to gracefully play across her face. Dropping her arms to her lap she decided to give into temptation and leave the shop closed for today, after all she did run it from breakfast to dinner seven days a week on most days of the year without stop so she was entitled to at least one day of laziness. Especially after everything that had been happening lately, of course she was now glad that it was all over, for her at least and she didn't want to ruin the euphoria from last night to be trampled on by dealing with large numbers of people.

Standing up she slipped on a robe before walking downstairs to her tea shop, passing by a booth where a pair of empty tea cups, the silent proof that she did in fact have a conversation with her elusive and emotionally distraught nephew as memories filled her thoughts for her to savor like some foreign delicacy. It felt awkward at first, so they had just talked about what was going on in their lives, she had let him know that Shinobu was worrying herself sick over him and he agreed to meet her at the teahouse to reassure her that he was alright. He had mentioned how Mutsumi had been helping him escape Naru and she made a joke about his love life, she had begun thinking it to be a mistake when he said the sweetest thing imaginable to her little joke.

'Well, who knows about me and Mutsumi, but whoever I end up with there's definitely one girl that I'll never forget about." He said it with one of his ear to ear infectious smiles and almost assumed it was the promised girl until he had said that it was her.

She had been so happy she had grabbed him and kissed him without any inhibitions, from there things took their natural progression until they wound up in her bed again, not that she minded since she had been secretly hoping for another shot at having him. She had always seen how kind and caring he was and secretly wanted him for herself, what woman in their right mind wouldn't, but the fact of their relationship as Aunt and Nephew had always put her on the other side of the fence, where the grass was less than green.

Until that night three weeks ago she could only have dreamt of the things she was doing with him now, but she knew that until she had rebuilt some of the more delicate bonds they had shared tat she needed o tread carefully. After what happened last time she felt as if she had ruined her only chance at him. He only proved her wrong by showing what a precious a person he is by giving another opportunity at her dream to be with him, even though she felt that she didn't deserve it. Placing a closed for the day sign in the window Haruka proceeded to go back up the stairs, back to the lovable warm lump that was in her bed and perform any number if not all the dirty things that ran through her head. Half way up the stairs she yawned and was greeted by a very terrible taste in her mouth.

"Blech, I swear when I catch the cat that crapped in my mouth I'm gonna kill it." Haruka grumbled bringing a smile to her face at the joke she had heard while overseas with Seta.

Instead of going straight back to her bed for round two Haruka instead stopped in at her bathroom and brushed her teeth. After several minutes she finished off with some mouth wash and spit the fluid down the sink, her mouth now free of the raunchy, rancid flavor that infested every corner and crevice of her mouth. Placing the toothbrush and other stuff back she opened the medicine cabinet and her gaze fell on an unpleasant surprise that drug up a very bad memory. Picking it up Haruka stared at the otherwise innocent looking bottle like it was the plague; she couldn't believe that she had kept it after all the trouble it caused last time as once again it reminded her that she had used no protection with her nephew. It brought up all her thoughts about the very strong possibility of getting pregnant along with everything good and bad that would bring to the two of them.

Closing the medicine cabinets mirror the image of her nephew standing behind her was reflected in the silver lined glass. Studying him briefly she could tell from his face the many emotions that swirled and swam underneath and almost instantly she knew what he was thinking and just how deep the worries over what was about to happen next ran. They were filling his kind and tender heart with fear, shame, rejection and disappointment and after what happened last time they had done this she didn't blame him in the least. Taking one more look at the bottle in full consideration of all the possibilities plus the emotional state of the man that stood behind her Haruka weighed her decisions and found one that she didn't regret it in the slightest.

Before he could speak she slowly and dramatically raised the hand, holding the bottle of pills out to her side and dropped them into the nearby trashcan, Keitaros shocked look was priceless, but not as priceless as his reaction to what she did next. Turning around she allowed the front of her robe to open up in a way that it framed her fully revealed body to his gaze as she leaned her back against the sink with a mischievous grin escaped from deep within her. His jaw looked like it was about to fall off and she had to keep herself from laughing at the look of absolute shock he held while using the time he spent ogling her up and down to steady herself for her next words.

"So, wanna take a shower?" She already knew the answer but wanted to hear him say it, she didn't have to wait long before he nodded his head eagerly at the invitation, soon after she slid up to give him a deep meaningful kiss while closing the door to the bathroom to keep out prying eyes.

(I don't want to hear any complaints about the left out tea shop conversation scene, I did that on purpose to add a sort of dramatic element and add texture to the chapter. It's only one of many plot elements I've used to give this story a deep feel as well as amuse myself so I'm entertained enough to write more, lets see if you can find all the different otherwise meaningless or comical elements I've used in this story. Other than that I'm glad to hear that all of you enjoy my work and sincerely hope you found this one just as enjoyable than the rest, this being the first chapter written in a year, lets hope if doesn't take me a year to write and post chapter number 5.)


	5. Chapter 5

(Disclaimer: look at first chapter, I wish would use a different document editor, having to change formatting to conform is so tedious that I don't want to post anything to the sight just to avoid it, NE ways enough ranting up here I've got enough at the bottom, just Relax, Read, and Enjoy the fic. I'll leave the Queuing of the music to you.)

Caught

Haruka took a step out of her tea shop and pulled a cigarette and lighter from her apron, placing the poison stick in her mouth and lighting it she allowed it to sate her addiction. Exhaling the smoke from her blackened and dried lungs she let the feeling wash over her, as she reflected over the past three days. The entire day after she had found her nephew they spent being intimate with each other, something that she still couldn't bring herself to regret, not that she wanted to anyways. The day after she re-opened up the shop and was bombarded with questions from the girls about why she had closed down for the day, to protect her nephew she had told them that she wanted to do other things, after making sure none of them got anything from her she pulled Shinobu off to the side and told her there was something important she needed to discuss with her.

Yesterday her Nephew decided to use the tea shop to enter the tunnels instead of whatever entrance he had been using prior to that one, she didn't blame him as most of the other entrances were not only hard to get to but also due to how long it's been since they were last used were probably overgrown with who knows what. Of course after she had closed up shop she ran an errand he asked her to do for him and collected rent from the girls. Naru and Motoko were both upset that she was the one who was collecting it although Naru asked if she had been able to speak with her nephew; Haruka simply said yes and ignored all of the other questions asked.

Su of course had her rent wired in and automatically converted to the local currency so Haruka didn't have to bother with asking her. Sarah's rent was also mailed in and Shinobu worked for her rent by doing laundry, helping with the cleaning and cooking for everyone so she didn't have to pay. Kitsune had tried avoiding paying it like she had with Keitaro but eventually succumbed to Harukas threats of eviction for lack of payment and paid the full amount. Haruka had wanted to do more, to make her pay back every last Yen she had milked out of her nephew in rent and loan but knew that no matter how hard she pressed that not a single yen of the substantial amount would be seen.

Focusing her attention on the red hot end of her cigarette she tried clearing her mind, a task that was surprisingly easy since finding Keitaro, her stress levels having been greatly reduced, her mind focused on her habitual smoking which was becoming less and less frequent. She had noticed it a couple of days ago that she had been smoking less and less, and often times she found that it was becoming more of a thought less habit than a painful addiction and often caught herself having stranger and stranger thoughts about it that she wasn't used to.

'Maybe I should quit.' This wasn't the first time she found herself thinking along this line. 'Why do I keep on smoking anyways? I guess it's because I never had a reason to quit. Do I even need a reason or do I simply not want to quit?' Harukas thoughts had drifted over this very subject for years on end and time and time again she would always shrug it off since in the end she always found that she won't quit because there was nothing to loose other than a few days of her life, days she would otherwise spend either working or twiddling her thumbs waiting for them to end.

A distant yell and the sound of running broke her out of her self analyzing of her smoking habit as Keitaro came into view at the stairs, breathing heavily and running as hard as he could, as he reached the flat portion he smiled and waved at her.

"Hi Aunt Haruka." He said while ducking inside of her shop.

"It's Haruka." She yelled after him, he never listened and she turned back around and leaned against the frame of her doorway as a second person started to come into view.

"Which way did he go?" Naru asked out of breath, Haruka shrugged and Naru simply groaned her exasperation at loosing him once again while going limp. "Not again!"

"Keep it up, you'll eventually catch him." Haruka encouraged the younger girl.

"Gee, thanks. You know you could help me out by either holding him here or telling me where he's hiding, after all you did have that talk you wanted to have with him."

"I caught him in passing; I guess I'm just lucky that way." Again, not necessarily a lie rather than omitting certain details, like when she had told her the reason behind the discussion she wanted to have with him.

"Great, another day wasted trying to catch him, and that little traitor Tama has been onto us the whole time and is protecting him with everything she has." Naru grumbled, ever since they caught the turtle eating one of the treats that she only gets from Keitaro they had begun to interrogate her as well, though all they ever did get out of her was 'Mu', it was still entertaining to watch as after all the methods they used to extract the information from the poor creature they eventually had Tama spilling everything on Keitaro only for them to realize that not one of them spoke turtle.

"At least you're getting closer; last week you couldn't even locate him outside of the school now you are chasing him up the steps." Haruka encouraged the girl, honestly she didn't really care if she found Keitaro or not, and even though she could try to call an end to this relentless pursuit, not one of them would listen.

"Yeah, you're right. Hey, if you talk with him again tell him that I really do miss him and want to speak with him. Please." The younger girl seemed almost pathetic the way she was begging her for the favor.

"Sure I'll let him know, but it's up to him if he wants to talk with you or not." Haruka said and got a bow of gratitude from the younger woman.

"Thanks, Ja'ne." Naru said as she continued up the stairs.

Scratching the back of her head Haruka reentered her tea shop and made her way to the kitchen to prepare for the oncoming diner rush, what little of it there was that is. Stepping through the door way she found her nephew doing some dishes leftover from the lunch rush. Giving him the once over Haruka then cleared her throat before approaching him.

"Oh, hi Aunt Haruka, do you need something?" he asked with the broad grin on his face causing her to falter a little bit over his statement.

"Well, for one you can start calling me just Haruka, drop this aunt stuff. It makes me sound old."

"But, when we're making love you always want me to…" Keitaro was interrupted by a sudden headlock.

"That's because having you call me aunt in those situations makes it feel that much better for me. But outside of the bed it just makes me feel older than what I am, you know Aunt is one letter off of Old lady right?" She explained to him before releasing the head lock, once he had gotten upright again she spoke once more. "You haven't forgotten about today have you?"

"Nope, in fact I'm looking forward to it." Keitaro replied with a smile stretching the corners of his lips into an irresistible grin.

"I always knew you weren't one to disappoint." Haruka said before leaning over and giving her nephew a peck on the lips, desire welling up in her for more, but her willpower fighting it down knowing now was neither the time nor the place.

Just as Keitaro was about to reply the bell at the entrance rang letting Haruka know a guest had just arrived. Pulling back and pretending to be wiping her hands on her apron she left the small kitchen and headed for the entrance. Walking into the diner style entrance of her restaurant Haruka spotted her new guess. The young woman came up to the older ones chest, timid and nervous eyes darting back and forth as the young girl scanned the restaurant. As her eyes shot back and forth you could visibly watch as the young girl drew further into herself and her uncertainties and lack of self confidence as she almost began to shrink towards the entrance as if she were ready to run at the first sign of trouble.

"Hey Shinobu, why not take a seat, he'll be with us in a minute." Haruka said, the young girl flinching when she spoke up, but deciding that it was too late to back down Shinobu moved to the usual booth and took a seat. "You look like something's bothering you, wanna talk about it?" Haruka said as she sat down across from the young girl.

"Not really, no. I'm just nervous; it's been so long since I've seen Senpai that I don't know what to do anymore. I really do wish I could speak with him, I really do. Haruka, you got to talk with Senpai, how is he doing? Is he eating well?" Shinobu had gone from a deep mood of depression that was eating her to worried sick, her expression painfully pleading with the older woman in front of her.

"Well, you see, that's why I asked you here today. I wanted to talk with you about Keitaro…" but before she could continue Shinobu interrupted her.

"Oh no, something happened to him didn't it? Poor Senpai, I, um we need to help him! Please tell me where he is so I can help?" Shinobu was on the verge of tears now, reaching across the table in a desperate attempt to plead help from the older woman, Haruka was about ready to blurt all when three cups of tea were placed on the table.

"There we go. Hello Shinobu, sorry about not trying to talk with you, but things have been a little hectic wouldn't you agree?" Keitaro said while bowing in apology to the young girl.

00011011

Shinobu couldn't believe her eyes, just moments ago she had feared the worst for her beloved Senpai but now, standing in front of him with the smile on his face, he had the glow of some magnificent divine being. She could feel it as her eyes began to tear up uncontrollably and she began to sniffle uncontrollably while staring at him, taking him in as if it were for the first time in her life.

"Oh Senpai!" She chocked out between muffled sobs before throwing herself at him hugging him tightly around the waist completely forgetting about the hot cups of tea that he just sat down on the table, spilling them in her lap. "OW OW OW, it's hot." She yelped while jumping back.

"You should pay more attention to what you're doing." Keitaro said as he grabbed a few napkins and began to use them to soak up the steaming liquid from her lap. "But I'm glad to see you too."

Blushing at both her clumsiness and his cleaning her up she eventually found herself staring into his smiling face as it raised into her view, her burning lap fading to nothing until all that existed in her world was that grin and his voice. But even still something seemed a bit off, almost as if a part of him had moved away from her despite him being here. But that took back seat when Haruka left to go attend to some new customers leaving the two of them alone to catch up.

11000101

Haruka was staring off in the distance, her gaze transfixed by the distant sight before her when Shinobu fallowed by Keitaro left the building talking and laughing. Haruka couldn't tell what it was about but didn't care either at the incredible sight before her. Keitaro didn't have anything to worry about as the rest of the girls had come past at their usual intervals throughout the day. Motoko rushed up the stairs pausing only briefly to say hi on her way to her latest stake out spot in the hopes of catching her nephew. Su and Sarah had chased each other up the stairs shortly after playing a game of tag, and Kitsune had trudged up the steps coming back from the full time job she now had in order to pay her rent.

Haruka had made sure that each one didn't interfere with her nephews conversation with minimal effort as they all believed he was up at the dorm hiding from them and not in the tea shop talking with Shinobu. Haruka stopped them by placing a hand on Shinobus' shoulder, tearing her attention away from what she had been staring at long enough to talk with the young girl.

"If anyone asks, you were able to find him in passing. If the others knew anything about him being here, they'd storm my shop and give Keitaro more grief than he can handle right now. Can I trust you with this Shinobu?" Haruka politely explained placing no pressure on the young woman before her.

"Hai, I won't tell them he's here." Her smile beamed as if it were halogen plasma as she turned and gave the young man a loving hug. "I'll see you again sometime soon right Senpai?"

"Sure thing Shinobu, just let me know ok?" Keitaro spoke back to her; the young girl nodded and proceeded to run up the steps waving back to Keitaro.

Haruka let her gaze wander back to the horizon as she lit another of the malevolently odorous tobacco sticks. Her gaze fixing on what she had been staring at before, riveted to that one spot as if it was the most entertaining thing in the entire universe at this very moment, she barely acknowledged it when her nephew wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the cheek.

"What are you looking at?"

Haruka pointed in the direction she was gazing and his own fallowed coming to rest on the plume of smoke in the distance indicative of a building fire. She didn't need to look at him to see that something about this building fire upset him, almost as if he could place the location when suddenly he pulled away from her and took a step forward.

"That's Mutsumis' place." He said slowly, absorbing what was happening before him. "I've got to go see if she's alright." Keitaro almost started running at that instant but Haruka interrupted him before he could get a start.

"And what do you plan on doing when you get there?" He hadn't thought that far ahead, just like she suspected.

"Um…"

"There's a fire extinguisher in the kitchen, take it and be careful okay, I want you back alive." Haruka said smiling at him for added effect.

"Thanks Aunt Haruka." Keitaro said giving her another kiss on the cheek as he ran inside again.

"It's Haruka in public, HAR-UK- A." he was already out of earshot. Sighing she looked back at the fire and after a few moments of contemplation decided that she should go with him to make sure he didn't do anything stupid.

"Alright I'm ready." Keitaro said emerging from the tea shop carrying the extinguisher with him.

"I'm coming along as well; someone's got to keep you in line." He smirked at this and the two of them were heading towards the steps when a lone figure trudged into view.

"Ara, ara, so many steps, one step at a time, one at a, two, three, four…" Mutsumi was saying to herself as she trudged long, clothes slightly singed while carrying two large bags of watermelons in each hand and a pack no doubt containing some clothes and books on her back.

"Mutsumi, you're alright." Keitaro practically yelled as he hugged her.

"Ah, hi hi Kei-kun." Mutsumi said while getting swept up in the feel of the hug. "Oh no, now I forgot how many steps there were."

"I saw your place on fire and was on my way out to help, what happened?" Keitaro asked pulling away from the hug he had given her.

"Well, you see, I decided to take a nap under my Kotatsu and when I woke up my room was full of smoke, I barely had enough time to grab the essentials before a the fire broke out." Mutsumi explained to the two.

"Mutsumi, you should know better than to fall sleep under that thing, you need to watch it or they can START fires you know." Keitaro explained to her.

"Ara?" was her innocent response. "Well, I was hoping that since my old place burned down and there were so many people I knew here that I'd see about getting a room. There is one open isn't there?"

"There's lots of rooms open, why don't we go inside and I'll get the paperwork ready for a new resident." Haruka said turning to go inside, just as she was nearing the entrance to her tea shop a light thus resounded next to her.

"Oh, no not again, hey, Mutsumi, wake up." Keitaro said shaking the young woman.

"Let her be Keitaro, she's been through a lot. How about helping me get her inside, she can rest up and we can get her contract done when she wakes up." Haruka took the smoldering rolled up pile of chemicals out of her mouth and put it out before proceeding inside her shop.

"Right, up we go." Keitaro said as he was barely able to lift up Mustumi and carry her as the young woman adamantly refused to release the bags of her precious watermelons.

00011011

Mutsumi had been drifting in and out of consciousness over the past few hours, this time she felt it as Keitaro replaced a cool towel that was resting on her forehead. Just as he was done placing back on her forehead she heard it as Haruka came into the room.

"She still hasn't woken up yet?" The older woman had an unusual hint of concern in her voice. "Not surprising all things considered." Haruka crossed the room to stand beside them. "I guess she'll just have to spend the night here then and we can sort things out in the morning. You coming to bed?" Something about that comment didn't settle with Mutsumi quite right.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a few moments, I just want to make sure Mutsumi will be all right." Keitaro said and the older woman left. After a few moments Keitaro removed the cloth and felt her forehead before placing the cloth back once again. "Good night Mutsumi, I'll see you in the morning." He said as he then stood up and walked out of the room just as she was fading back into unconsciousness.

She awoke a few hours later and sat up in the futon she found herself in, the towel landing in her lap. It was dark, but a strange but faint sound could be heard, almost as if some old appliance was complaining about its continued use. Getting up Mutsumi half wandered half explored her surroundings for the source of the sound, eventually coming

to a door that had been left partially open, the wounds were the loudest coming from within but were still not loud enough to cause her any great seal of alarm.

Peering through the open part of the door Mutsumi witnessed one of the most shocking things on her entire life. Covering her mouth all she could do was stand there and watch the forbidden act occurring within the room before her, eventually she felt the strength in her knees give an after stumbling back a few feet found herself on the floor. She wanted to look away, to forget about the thing she had just seen, and for a time she managed to do so but eventually finding herself wanting to convince herself otherwise eventually returned her gaze to the space on the other side of the door as if to confirm what she had just seen.

She didn't have to watch much longer as the act within was soon finished, staring at the two on the other side of the room she didn't know how she would ever be able to look think about either one the same way again. A few minutes passed and afraid of being caught Mutsumi stood up and returned to the room she was in before, closing the door as quietly as possible though to her ears it was loud enough to wake the entire city she found herself falling once again to the floor, bringing her knees up to her chest she soon found herself sobbing into them uncontrollably.

"Keitaro, how could you."

(Hope you liked the chapter, more to come as I get around to it. I hope you enjoyed me adding elements from the series into my story as I commonly do with fanfics to give them a bit more of the same feel as the series. I have yet to hear back from anyone about any guesses as to how many of the devices I've used to entertain myself and break up the seriousness of the story while giving it texture. Either they are blatantly obvious or I've just written them in too well to be found. As some of you have probably guessed I don't like Cigarettes as I am deathly allergic to Tobacco and that's why I've been using such degrading terms whenever I am referring to Haruka and her use of them. But unlike some people I know that it's a part of her character and won't remove them just to fit my ideals. My stories may take a twist from the series that seems OOC but I like to keep tem with as much of a feel from the series as I possibly can. Any who, at this point, Review, Add story to Favorites, Add Author to favorites, Add story to c2c, Copy and Paste into a word processing app to save it for easy access, print it for hard copy, use elements to inspire your own story, or any combination there of but not necessarily in that order or partaking of all available options as you see fit. It's a free story on a free site so I don't care what you do with it as long as you don't plagiarize my work, I will be happy.)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: It's on the first chapter, get over it.

Choices

"I can't believe that idiot" Naru practically yelled out in the middle of the schools court yard to Mutsumi. "I simply can't believe it. How could he? That slippery little, when I get my hands on him I'm gonna make him pay."

It was lunch time at Toudai and the two of them were sitting in the courtyard having already eaten their respective meals. Naru had just finished an Onigiri that Shinobu had packed for her while Mutsumi had just polished off some melon bread bought from the campus store.

"Unbelievable, simply unbelievable." Naru continued to rant, "I thought something like that was completely impossible but that little worm went and did it, how could he?" Naru just about looked like she was going to kill someone over the recent news that had been handed her by her best friend.

Mutsumi on the other hand just felt depressed having seen what Keitaro had been doing with his Aunt. It was something she knew she couldn't just keep a secret, something she knew that had to be talked about. Opening her mouth again to talk Naru once more cut her off on her tirade about the object of her affection.

"That trap was perfect, we spent a week planning and mapping it, not to mention the money we spent for all those supplies, he falls for it hook-line and sinker and still manages to get out unscathed while we are left scratching our heads. Impossible I tell you, impossible the only way out would have been through us and yet he still escapes without anyone seeing him getting away."

Indeed the trap had been perfect, simple but perfect, they had called in all the favors and posted as many lookouts on the routes to and from the Inn as possible, and Keitaro had just gotten off the train back in Hinata. Naru and Mutsumi were supposed to keep an eye on the campus, Motoko the path to the inn, Shinobu and Su the main roads leading to the inn. Mitsune the bridge, where he was last seen but the fox lost track of him in a nearby alley.

"Did he suddenly gain the ability to walk through walls or turn invisible or something? Sheesh what a pain in the… Mutsumi are you okay it looks like something is bothering you?" Naru said noticing the perturbed look on her friends face.

"Huh? Oh no Naru, I was just thinking." Mutsumi spoke with a smile and Naru went back to devising a new way to catch the elusive Kanrinin. 'I really should tell her what I saw, but if I do she might really kill him.'

A few minutes later the bell signaling the time rang and the two girls the next class was about to start. Since they had finished theirs for the day they each gathered their supplies and began their own trip back home.

00110101

Keitaro let out a sigh of relief as he entered through the back door of the tea shop, he had been able to avoid Naru, even though Mutsumi didn't really offer any help today, she seemed to be distracted. He didn't blame her, loosing ones house and most of their possessions would do that to just about anyone. He was surprised though when Shinobu had ambushed him on the main roads leading to the Inn, she had quickly explained the situation to him and handed him one of Su's stealth suits. It came in handy just moments ago as he caught Kitsune stalking after him as he turned to head towards the tea shop. Shortly after entering the alley he turned it on instantly hiding him from view just in time for her to whip around the corner.

Sitting down his backpack he looked up to catch his aunt as she made her way in with a new set of orders from the customers up front.

"Need help with that?" Keitaro asked without missing a beat as he began reaching for some utensils to help out.

"Not with this but maybe later you can help me with something else." She said while bumping him with her hip while passing. "These are all easy orders and too many cooks spoil the broth." Keitaro couldn't help but smile at how casual they were becoming.

"Speaking of, I think we might have to cut back on that now that Mutsumi is staying with us. She has been acting strange all day and I don't want things to get any worse for her. After all, things can get pretty loud between us aunt Haruka." The order pad flew straight through his open legs and struck the wall behind him with an audible pop.

"Don't call me that or next time I'll aim a little higher. If you can't stop with the aunt and start calling me Haruka, then try calling me sweetie, or honey, something cliché like those westerners always say to each other, ok?" Haruka picked up a tray of simple drinks and a few small snacks on her way back out of the main kitchen area. "You should get going, I'm sure you have plenty of homework, and if any of the girls catch you here it doesn't take much imagination as to what they will do to you."

Relieved that the danger was over he reached for the hidden panel and moved it out of the way. Reaching for the hidden panel Keitaro slowly slid into the hidden tunnels, unknowingly leaving his backpack behind as he sealed the entrance once again.

01100011

Waving her friend off at the division in the steps Mutsumi turned to the small shop that was presently her home for the time being. Looking inside she noticed that it wasn't that busy, good thing too; Haruka had wanted to speak with her after school today. Undoubtedly about living arrangements for the young woman, but at the same time Mutsumi didn't really want to talk with the woman. After what she had seen, she didn't know what to say. After all, what do you say to the aunt who is having sex with her nephew whom you love because he is the perfect guy?

Sighing Mutsumi put all her doubts aside and slipped into the shop, finding an empty booth in the back she sat down and slowly began to play with the condiments. Rearranging them slowly she eventually has a small castle built on the table, a castle she was slowly fantasizing of running off to with Keitaro. Mid-way through her fantasy a shadow fell over the table startling her and causing the castle to fall apart.

"Would you like anything to drink?" Haruka asked, one of those nefarious tubes of stench hanging between her lips.

"No, not really, I'm not really all that thirsty." Mutsumi mumbled looking down at her castle, destroyed and laying in the shadow of the older woman. 'Even in my fantasies she takes him from me.' Mutsumi couldn't help but think as she moved the objects back to their original positions.

"About your living arrangements, I can arrange for you to stay up at the Inn if you want. We'd have to find you a room to stay in, but that shouldn't be hard. If you don't feel like hanging around with them up there, I'm sure we could arrange for you to stay here and you can work in the kitchen part-time to pay for the rent. I really could use some part-time help in the kitchen on certain days." Haruka said still standing at the edge of the table.

After a moment of silence Mutsumi spoke up. "I think it would be better if I stayed up there and helped in the kitchen to pay the rent. That way I won't be in your way."

"Ok, we'll see what we can do as far as rooms go and get you settled in, and Mutsumi." The younger girl looked up at the older woman. "If you ever need to talk about something, just let me know, I'm always open to friends for advice on just about everything." Haruka put in that last part as she too noticed the usual aura of carefree confidence that surrounded the girl was lacking, just as her nephew had.

"Even if it's about what you and Keitaro have been doing?" Mutsumi couldn't stop herself from saying it and shortly after she covered her mouth.

'Well, I guess it was bound to get out sooner or later.' Haruka sighed as she sat down across from the girl. "So you know then."

"I'm sorry, but, the door was open and I just looked in a little and, I…" Mutsumi trailed off mid sentence.

"Mutsumi, you like Keitaro right?"

"Yes, I like him, he is just so kind and gentle. He works really hard at everything he does and is very loyal to those around him. I know that I'm not the only one to feel this way about him, Keitaro is, Keitaro is just so Keitaro. It's hard to explain but he's so unlike all the other guys out there that it's impossible not to notice." Mutsumi sang in praise to the young man.

"I'm sure you know what happened to him on his birthday. Well, he was just so down and hurt by it that he came to speak with me. I just couldn't stand seeing him like that, he was just so defeated and he felt so unloved, I tried to comfort him and one thing led to another." Haruka began to explain.

"But he's your Nephew, how could you even think about having such a relationship with him let alone do what you have with him." Mutsumi interjected.

"Yes, I know that. But like you said, he is just one of those unique guys that everybody loves. I was down myself when he walked in, and seeing him like that. A man that deserves to be happy for all the effort he puts into pleasing others, a man that is the ideal partner for any woman is enough to make anyone forget themselves.

"I hurt Keitaro pretty badly afterwards, and the stress and drama from the dorm didn't help things either, he just kinda snapped at that point. You were the only person he talked to until I was finally able to track him down. While speaking with he seemed worse than he was before, I just knew that he needed somebody in his life. It had been so long since I've had anyone myself that I understood him the most, and what should have been a one-time thing became more." Haruka stubbed out the remainder of her ashen tube of tar and looked at the younger girl.

Mutsumi couldn't control herself and began to break down, tears streaming down her face as she gently cried at the table. Haruka reached over and gave her a gentle run on the shoulder.

"But how, it's just so wrong. It feels as though I'm loosing the most important person in my life and there's nothing I can do to stop it." Haruka simple moved next to the girl and gave her a hug.

"I know it's wrong, I mean, he's my brothers son of all people. But I want you to understand Mutsumi, I'm not trying to take him from anyone. If you want to be with him, then go ahead. But the first thing you have to do is accept what has happened and be able to look past it. If you can't do that then in your eyes is he even worth it, and if he is then are you worthy of him if you can't accept the past and move on?"

Mutsumi knew that what she said was true, but the weight of the situation still bore down on her heavily as she slowly let it all sink in. Grabbing hold of the older woman Mutsumi just held on tight as she could for the next few moments before responding.

"You really mean it? If I wanted to be with him, you would just let him go for me?"

"You, or anyone else that wants to be with him. Keitaro and I have a good thing going on, in a sense we are filling a hole in each others lives right now. But we can never last as a couple, I've already resigned myself to that fate. All I can really do right now is enjoy it while it lasts, and let him go when he figures out which one of you girls he wants to be with."

"Thank you Haruka. I, I feel much better now." Releasing her death grip on the older Woman Mutsumi sat up and began to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"Not a problem, now how about some tea. It does wonders for relieving the stress." Haruka offered with a bright smile.

"Sure, that sounds great."

00110010

"AIIII, Gotta run, gotta run."

"Urashima, get back here and face your maker." Keitaro screamed as he ran through the halls of the Hinata Sou as Motoko chased after him, her Ki attacks coming closer and closer to striking him.

Turning the corner he felt as the most recent one ran past him and washed over the balcony breaking some of the rails from the stress of the Tidal forces. Continuing down the hall he ran into a silver turtle that resembles the resident mascot. The Mecha Tama's eyes flashed once before diving for him in a strafing run.

Jumping over the side of the Balcony Keitaro landed on a nearby roof and continued to run. He had been at this for close to 12 minutes, ever since he had been discovered in the hall way cleaning the floor. He could have sworn that was still wearing the stealth suit from earlier but apparently he had just forgotten that he had taken it off and had become careless.

He almost got away with it too, Motoko was simply walking down the hall way and as she passed greeted him. He was so focused on his work that he had greeted her back and she continued on almost as if nothing had happened. It wasn't until nearly a full minute after that she came rushing back after him intent on his blood. There was so much noise the other residents quickly found out and joined in on the case, much of the inn had been damaged in their pursuit of him as Su was not only using her mecha tamas but also a rocket launcher. Sarah had gotten her hands on a laser rifle and Kitsune was laying traps ever where he went.

Fortunately it was their combined pursuit of him that proved to be the source of their failure. Hopping from the roof to the next balcony down Keitaro continued to make his way towards the landlords' room dodging the rocket barrage Su was launching at him from the nearby balcony. Nearing the Room Kitsune sprung from his room with a net in her hands which she quickly threw at him. Stumbling back slightly a laser shot from Sarahs' rifle lanced out and shredded the net just as it was wrapping around him.

Taking the opportunity he quickly rushed past Kitsune and into his room closing the door behind him and latching it shut. Knowing that it wasn't going to hold them out for long he quickly made his way to the nearest tunnel entrance and quickly entered it just as the door to his room caved in as the girls barged into his room. He hadn't even had enough time to close the panel yet.

"Ah hah, so this is how you were doing it. Well your secret is out now." Motoko called out after him as he ran through the tunnels.

Ducking and dodging through them he quickly made sure to use them for their original intention as he often tracked and back tracked through the various sub-passages forcing them to break up into groups and making sure they went in the wrong direction. Motoko was heading for the Hot spring, Kitsune for the common room, Su and Sarah for the kitchen, once he was sure he had lost them Keitaro made his ay through the passages slowly using them to his advantage making his way to his real destination.

11011100

"That was too close." Keitaro sighed as he moved the large container back in front of the entrance.

"What happened?" Haruka said bringing a tray of dishes into the kitchen.

"The girls caught me, they also figured out how I've been avoiding them so now I can't even use the tunnels without being caught." Keitaro sighed.

"Maybe you should just give up and go back to them." Haruka suggested.

"I don't think I can. They were really out for blood this time, and if I go back I might just get killed. But now I'm not even able to take care of my duties as land lord there any more either."

"Sorry but I can't help you there. I can only do so much and right now my hands are full enough as is." Haruka said as she began preparing her next set of orders for the café.

"I guess I'll just have to give Granny a call and let her know that I cant continue being the land lord." Keitaro said as he moved towards the phone.

"By the way, Mutsumi knows about what we've been doing. I had a little talk with her and she has calmed down some, but I think that you should have a talk with her yourself." Haruka pinched his butt as he walked by earning a blush from him.

"Okay, I'll do that later as well but after I talk with Granny." Keitaro picked up the phone and dialed the number he had for her, the phone rang on the other side several times before there was and answer.

"Hi Granny. Well, umm, see that's why I'm calling you, you see, things have just gotten a little rough for me here so I… No Granny that's fine the Inn Is still standing it's jus that I… Well, yes and not. You see I am just so overwhelmed by it all and I think that it's about time to… What? No Granny that's not what I mean, what I'm trying to say is that I… Yes Granny I understand, we'll be waiting." Keitaro hung up the phone.

"Well, how'd she take it?" Haruka asked

"Granny is sending someone to act as the dorm manager as I go to school so that I can spend more time studying."

"Really? I wonder who she will send. Ugh! I hope it's not who I think it is, I don't think I could stand going up there if it was her." Haruka said as she mulled over the possible candidates.

"Well, whoever she sends will have their work cut out for them, that's for sure." Keitaro said as he leaned in and gave Haruka a kiss while slipping the pan out of her hand and taking hold of utensil she had in her other, after the kiss was broken she turned to continue cooking her order only to find said items missing.

"That's not fair." Haruka said indignantly after he broke the kiss and took over making the orders for the Café.

"Well, I can't do any work up at the dorm anymore, and I'm not in the mood to just go and relax, so I may as well help you out in the kitchen." Haruka simply smiled and leaned in close to his ear.

"Welcome aboard then, just keep in mind that even though you are my Nephew, that doesn't mean I will go easy on you if you mess things up." Keitaro let out a nervous laugh and as he was not paying attention a small portion of what was in the pan spill, earning him a rather painful cheek pinching. "And spilling food is not acceptable either."

"Yes mam!"

01011010

The sun shone brightly over the Hinata Sou, the sky was cleat with the exception of a few clouds that lazily drifted on by. Damage from the latest Keitaro hunt was still present throughout the inn and a few spots could e seen from the outside though they had been covered over and a few repairs attempted on the structure.

With the exception of a few insects, some nearby birds and the wind rustling the leaves on the trees all was quiet, but not all was calm. Standing in front of the inn was a girl wearing a black dress and wearing an oversized hat. A few suitcases and a duffle bag resting in front of her as she took in the sight before her. Though the hat obscured her face a small smile quickly formed on her lips, to any that did not know her it would seem almost sinister.

"I'm finally here, Oni-san."

(Again, about a year to write due to personal circumstances however it is an update. To those of you that may not have guessed by now I am not very fond of Tobacco products, this is due to a very nasty allergy I have towards them more so than people dying/suffering from or letting them rule their lives. To clarify, I am Using the original version of the universe, not the culturally/lingual dumbed down re-write. Haruka is roughly 5-8 years older than her nephew, has a brother who is Keitaros dad, and was technically an unexpected surprise as her brother is 20 years older than she is, but then again I also have a brother 20 years older than I am. I find the whole her punching him because they are cousins so she hates being called aunt due to her being a re-adopted daughter of the older of two sisters because her mother died despite the fact that she would have been put in the care of her grandmother anyways so there is no need for her to be adopted plus the name being carried by the female member to cover up the fact that the youngest kid of Hina is a girl to be retarded, slapped together with too many patches covering large plot holes made present by changing the story, and overly convoluted versus just explaining that Obasan is Aunt and Obaasan is old woman in Japanese and she is hitting him because she doesn't like the similarities in the words. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to have the next one up sooner than the 1 year it took for this one to be written.)


	7. Chapter 7

[Disclaimer: It's at the top of Chapter one. ***Special Shout out to my beta Durandal II, thanks for helping fix the snag with this chapter***]

Discord

The early morning rays broke through the openings and thin rice paper sheeting covering the sliding panels used for both windows and doors in the Japanese dorm. As the sun continued to creep higher and higher in the sky the stairs creaked under the weight of the small group traveling down them. Tired from attempting to fix the damage from the previous day, though the arguments and residual feelings they created still hung in the air like a bad omen.

"I still don't believe it, all that damage and you still lost track of him." Naru grunted out after a yawn.

"Keitaro is good at playing, I can't wait till next time." Su chirped in with her usual energy.

"It wasn't a complete waste, now we at least know where he's been hiding and can use Su's old maps to try and find him." Motoko tried to comfort the older girl.

"Yeah, but we woulda had him if you weren't so scatter brained ms didn't notice he was there until a minute later." Sarah reminded the kendo girl.

"Yeah and who cut the net with the laser rifle?" Motoko defended.

"I didn't know Kitsune was there, besides Su was getting ready to use her flame thrower, which one would you prefer the baka, still on the loose or barbecue?" Sarah countered.

"Keitaro Barbecue, sounds yummy." Su added as the reached the bottom, a groan above them let them know that the fifth one had decided to join in after all.

"Will you quiet down, look, we were unprepared at the time but don't worry Naru next time we will have him for sure." Kitsune added walking down the steps.

"Decided to join us for breakfast?" Motoko asked Kitsune as she reached the bottom with them.

"Better than trying to sleep through all your noise." She responded

Turning to enter the kitchen they passed by a figure sitting on the couch, slowing to a stop Motoko almost could not believe her eyes, was this an act of surrender or was he just playing with them, either way she knew that this time she had him.

"Urashima prepare to die!" she screamed drawing her sword and begun to swing.

Deftly dodging the blade from the couch Keitaro landed on the other side of the room leaving a dumbfounded Motoko staring intently at him.

"Good call Motoko, I didn't even notice him there. So, you decided to surrender the chase huh?" Kitsune asked from across the room.

"Surrender huh? Too bad, no prisoners." Su said pulling out her rocket Launcher and aiming for the landlord.

"Now stop that all of you! Keitaro, it's nice to see you again, I'm glad you decided to come back." Naru said reaching out slowly for him only to have her hand knocked away.

"Don't touch me! I am sorely disappointed in all of you, how you've been acting towards me is going to change starting today. I have been too lenient in the past with you girls and now it's time for that to stop, any further disrespect of me will get you kicked out of here got it?" Keitaro spoke to them in a very low yet dead serious voice.

"You, you, just who do you think you are huh?" Naru began by swinging at him only to have him dodge, a rope finding its way around her wrist.

To most it would have seemed like it happened in an instant but Motoko was capable of catching how Naru was pulled arm first into a flip, then into the fetal position shortly after all the time the deft hands of this person in front of her were throwing the rope out into loops and pulling it tight after the desired body part had passed through. What every one did catch though was the final wrapping and the quick knot that firmly brought the bind into completion.

"I am the owner of this place and I will be respected. Now, after breakfast I expect all of you to get ready and finish repairing the damage you have done to this Inn." Keitaro said standing from his place.

"Who are you?" Motoko spoke silently.

"I am the Manager of this inn, Keitaro Urashima…" but he was cut off again.

"Don't lie to me. Keitaro couldn't do that if his life depended on it." Motoko said pointing to how Naru was tied. "I ask again, who are you?"

"I have just been holding back on you, maybe you'd like to find out just how much." Keitaro said taking an unfamiliar stance to Motoko.

"This sounds like fun, I wanna play too." Su said aiming her rocket launcher once more, nobody noticed the smirk that crossed his face though.

001000111

"Do I have to? I mean, can't you just have her stop by the tea shop then explain things to the girls upstairs Aun-" Keitaro stopped mid sentence as Haruka suddenly seemed to be looming over him with a death glare in her eyes. "I mean Miss Haruka."

"You know I'm not good with that girl Keitaro. If I tried to stop her she would just ignore me and if you wait outside to catch her you may as well sign your own death warrant when the girls catch you, either that or sign theirs when she puts two and two together." Haruka said flicking the putrid butt of her latest victim to the ground.

Keitaro had informed her all about grandmas plan to send someone to help her grandson with the dorm. She was due to arrive today and Haruka wanted to make sure everything went smoothly. She would have gathered all the girls together and told them herself but she didn't want to be there when the new landlord arrived and didn't look forward to filling her in on all the details either. Keitaro didn't want to go back alone and unprotected from the inevitable wrath he would face and so he had 'sweet' talked her into going with him late last night.

Starting her ascent again they quickly reached the top of the steps, the faint sounds of a skirmish could be heard coming from within the dorm followed by a long eerie silence. Haruka stopped in her tracks knowing full well what was on the other side of the door, Keitaro kept on walking as if nothing happened though.

"Haruka, are you coming?" he turned to her and she felt all her resolve break at that point.

"Huh, well, it seems she has arrived sooner than expected and I think I left the gas on back at the shop so I'm going to be heading back now. Have fun straightening things out with the girls okay Keitaro." Haruka said scratching the back of her head before scooting to the stairs where she planned on making a break for her tea house.

"But you said you'd do this with me! Come on, it's not like she's going to try and kill you now is it?" Haruka had no response to that statement and could only reply with shock, however looking down at her nephews pleading eyes made her realize just what kind of mess this was and how much he needed her right now.

"Okay Keitaro, you win. But tonight I expect you to make it up to me okay?"

"Sure thing Aunt Haruka." He didn't even see her fist before it connected with his skull. "Ow."

11011100

Sarah and Su were both hanging by a net, Naru whom Motoko had been able to free from her original bind was now laying on her stomach with her arms and legs behind her back, Kitsune was hanging from the ceiling completely wrapped up in rope like a caterpillar and Motoko was Hog tied behind the couch.

"Dammit foul creature, let me go right this instant. Give us back our Keitarohmph." Her tirade was cut short as she found herself gagged.

"I already told you Motoko, no more mister nice Kanrinin." Keitaro said to her from where he stood.

"Hey everyone, breakfast is rea…" audibly gasping Shinobu saw Keitaro standing in the room and was taken back by this bold move.

But he was different, scary somehow. Looking around she found the other guests tied up throughout the room and as her Sempai started walking towards her she couldn't help but take a step back out of fear. The look in his eye, it wasn't that of her kind, gentle, sempai, it was if some sadistic evil was wearing a sempai suit.

"I thought we were one short. Come on in Shinobu, we were about to discuss the new rules of the house." The fake Keitaro said reaching out to her with an equally fake smile on his lips.

"Run Shinobu! Run, that is not Keitaro!" Naru yelled from her spot on the floor.

He looked away from her as the door opened then shut as two people entered the house talking to each other. She instantly recognized them as Haruka and her real Sempai, taking advantage of the distraction she rushed past the imposter and over to the entry just in time to hide behind the real Keitaro as he came into view.

"Sempai, help. There's an impostor right over there." She said pointing to the other one.

"Ha, I knew you were a fake. Now lets' see how you explain this one." Kitsune mocked from her hanging point in the ceiling.

"Now you're gonna get it, lets' see how well you stand up to the real Keitaro you faker." Su growled form the net.

"Kick his ass dork" was Sarah's' cheer.

Spitting out her gag Motoko then pleaded out to Haruka as she entered the room. "Hurry while he's distracted, take this thing down Haruka." Knowing that Haruka was a force on par with her sister Tsuruko, Motoko was confident this would be over fast, but was taken back when the older woman took on a nervous pose and visibly restrained herself from leaving as if she were afraid of this person.

"Oh, hello Oba-san Haruka, Onii-chan. I was just seeing how badly mannered our tenants really are." The figure turned to them and bowed, Haruka backed behind Keitaro just a bit placing him like a personal shield, like Shinobu before her.

' No way, she actually got away with calling Haruka aunt? Just who is this person.' Kitsune thought from her place.

"What do you mean Onii-chan? Keitaro has no brothers as far as we know." Naru said from her spot on the floor.

"Um, well, you really didn't have to take it this far Kanako." Keitaro spoke while observing the room while scratching his cheek, between the two Urashimas by the door he seemed the most composed. "Man, this reminds me of when we were younger."

"Kanako!" every one in the room screamed in surprise.

"Oh, Onii-chan, I'm so glad to see you again. Now maybe you will keep that promise with me." Kanako almost squealed as the Keitaro impostor moved over to the real one and latched onto him suggestively while leaning up and giving him a not so innocent kiss on the cheek.

"Wha, wha wha? What promise you sick, incest, Yaoi freak!" Naru practically screamed from her spot on the floor. How dare he try to steal _her_ Keitaro.

"Onii-chan made a promise to me long ago and it's none of your business so there." He stuck his tongue out at Naru.

"Yaoi may have once been more honorable at one time, but with ones own relative is just sick and wrong. Keitaro, he may be your brother but don't let this foul man tempt you away from more pure avenues." Motoko spoke out attempting to preserve him for herself.

"Huh, brother, Yaoi? What are you guys talking about?" Keitaro spoke; a slight tug on his sleeve from Haruka got his attention so she could whisper something in his ear.

"Well, he keeps on calling you Onii-chan and is loving up on you like you are his personal sex toy. What else are we supposed to think? Hey, don't ignore us!" Kitsune yelled as Keitaro nodded at whatever Haruka was saying to him. "If you really needed lovin' that bad you could have always come to me you know."

"Look, I don't know what you are talking about, honestly." Keitaro spoke as Haruka moved from him and to the other side of the room from Kanako in a smooth motion. "Look, I'm sorry that I never told you about my little sister but Haruka will fill you in on things as she's untying you."

"Huh? Sister?" the room repeated looking back at the new guest only to find that 'he' was now a 'she' with a Keitaro costume at her feet.

"How do you do, I am Kanako Urashima." She spoke with a slight bow; nearly every girl had an aneurysm and began to ask questions to the point that answering them would be pointless, turning to his sister Keitaro spoke up to her.

"Kanako, I need to talk with you, let's go someplace where we won't be disturbed okay?" Keitaro asked his sister as Haruka began to move in on the knots that held the girls.

"Sure Onii-chan, how about we go to your room and 'talk'." Kanako seductively replied as she moved her hand over her brothers' chest.

"Um, I was actually hoping to speak with you elsewhere, but before we go."

"Yes Onii-chan, what is it?" a light blush filled Keitaros cheeks as he spoke his next few words

"Can you put on some clothes?"

000110100

"Sorry to push this on you Kanako, really I am. I liked living there, I really did. But I just don't think its right for me to be the manager any longer; the stress is just getting to be too much." Keitaro spoke with his sister as they sat in Haruka's tea shop, having just retrieved some tea and sweet buns for the both of them.

"I understand, but don't worry Onii-chan. I will make sure to pay those witches back ten fold what they have done to you." Kanako replied lifting the tea her Onii-chan had made for them and slowly savored every last drop that passed through her lips.

"No, no. That's not necessary; it's not entirely their fault. Grandma just should have thought things through better when she chose her grandson to manage an all girls dorm." Keitaro reasoned taking one of the buns.

"Alright, I won't punish them for what they did to you." Kanako promised gaining a smile from Keitaro. "But where will you stay? If you go back home you will be a long way from school and mom and dad will force you to take over the shop."

"Don't worry about that. I've got a place where I'll be staying so that I can keep going to school." Keitaro said while taking a bite from the bun. "Hey, that's pretty good."

"Well then, tell me where and I'll make sure to visit you every day." Kanako said as she latched onto her big brother.

"That would be a bad idea. I kind of want to keep it a secret where I'm staying that way I can have some quiet time to myself. If you did that the others may follow you and then I may as well move back in for all the chaos it would cause me." Keitaro pled with her but was met with the biggest set of puppy dog eyes she could give him. "Okay Okay, you win, again. I am staying…"he leaned in and whispered in her ear so that any eaves droppers couldn't hear what was being said.

"Okay, I'll make sure to visit every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday then." Kanako spoke up after he was done.

"Kanako, that's not." But he was cut off before he could finish.

"Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, no exceptions or I will tell everyone where you live."

"Fine, Look, Kanako. I'm sorry for pushing this off on you like this. I really appreciate what you are doing, and besides. You might make a few new friends; Kami knows you never really did have any friends." Keitaro looked at the last sweet bun and realized that Kanako had yet to have one.

"I never needed friends, because I had you Onii-chan." Kanako happily latched onto him tightly.

"Kanako, I can't always be with you. Eventually you will need others to stand beside you. That's why you need to make friends, because they are the ones that will stand by you." Reaching out he ruffled her hair and moved the bun plate closer to her.

"That's why I became strong. So that I can stand up for myself and protect you too Onii-chan." Her smile was broad as she looked up to him.

"That's not what I'm talking about Kanako. Someday you will understand that even though you can take care of yourself, that it's just not enough. That you need others to stand by you, to keep you company and to fill your life with joy." Keitaro patted his sister on the head. "Besides, people would think you are weird if you always stood by my side instead of finding someone to start a family of your own with." Keitaro felt her nod her head but never noticed the sly smile on her face.

"By the way, you really should eat that last sweet bun, I saved it for you." Kanako blushed while looking at the sweet in front of her.

"Onii-chan, I don't really…"

"Nonsense, they're good, here, try it." Keitaro said picking the bun up off the plate and holding it up to her mouth.

Kanako looked at the Bun, then up to her brother as a memory of when they first met flashed through her mind. A memory interrupted as the sticky surface of the bun was pressed to her lips causing her to begin flailing.

"Now see there, I told you it was good." Keitaro spoke as he fed his reluctant sister her sweet bun.

00010111

"And that's the story, Kanako is going to be the new manager, Keitaro is staying at another place, and I won't be up here when she is around." Haruka finished explaining to the girls who were rubbing at the impressions the rope left in their skin.

"But we don't need a new Manager. Keitaro was doing just fine, and if he goes who will I play with?" Su complained loudly.

"Did you even listen to me? You may feel like you have been doing fine with him as manager but in all honesty he hasn't. I doubt any one of you knows just how much pressure he was under here. His only outlet was coming to me to talk about how hard it was for him and even though I saw allot more of his distress than you I still don't have any idea how much he had." Sighing Haruka reached for another stick of putrid death to calm her nerves.

"Aw come on, it wasn't that bad, and even if it was we could take allot of the edge off. That is if Naru and Motoko would look the other way and let me be a 'little helper' once in a while." Kitsune spoke up not wanting Keitaro to go at any cost.

"I think you've helped him with enough schemes to last him a life time Kitsune." Naru spoke up. "Besides, it's not like we're dating or anything, I just don't want anyone walking in on that!"

"Urashima is free to do as he pleases, as long as he does not perform lewd acts upon others." Motoko agreed.

"This is why he's doing this you know. Su always chases him under threat of pain and harm in the name of fun. Kitsune, you play with his hormones enough to drive any man crazy knowing that nobody will let him go any further even if you were both willing, then take his hard earned money. Naru, you are too stubborn to admit that you like him."

"I do not!" Naru interjected.

"Motoko, you say that he has freedom but threaten to lop off an appendage the instant he does anything aside from study, clean, eat, and bathe. I had a talk with him over a month ago about how the stress of running the inn was just too much for him to handle. He broke out in tears and said some very disturbing things to me, shortly after we had a fight and he disappeared." The girls went sullen as they listened. "When I ran into him again a few weeks later and talked with him I learned that he had finally been broken by it all and that was why he was avoiding every one, was to get away from all the pressure that was placed on him. To lick his wounds and get some of what he could call 'mythical' rest since he was being worked beyond the bone.

"He's been doing better lately though, it almost seemed like a few more weeks and he'd be ready to return and be himself again. Then he was hunted down like a rabid dog and realized that all that pressure has just been building up over the last few weeks. Since he seemed to be the source of this pressure, Keitaro asked granny Hina for a replacement, and now you have Kanako. Kami, why did it have to be Kanako, granny knows we don't get along and that unleashing her on anyone is a cruel fate that should be illegal."

"Haruka, exactly what kind of person is that Kanako if I may ask? Earlier when I asked for your assistance you seemed, pardon me for saying this, afraid of her. I know that you are exceptionally skilled, easily on par with my sister who is the best in the history of my school, so what is it about this girl that makes you so uncomfortable?"

"Kanako is a hard case to describe, only Keitaro truly knows the real her and is the only person who she can open up to. She is also an exceptional martial artist, unparalleled in her skill and completely ruthless."

"Is she really that good? It almost seemed that you were a little reluctant to confront her earlier." Motoko asked weighing her words carefully.

"Yes she is Motoko, the instant she showed any talent in martial arts Granny Hina took her into her direct care, the girl quickly mastered the Urashima style putting the previous top student, me, to shame. From there she was bounced from dojo to dojo so that she could learn and master as many arts as possible. Me and her never really got along either, and while at first I could handle her, it quickly became me on the receiving end." Memories of her many hours tied up and hanging from ropes after her encounters with the young girl flashed through her mind causing Haruka to shudder. "Only person I know that I've seen her lose to is Keitaro, and no, he's nowhere near that good, she just can't bring herself to harm him."

"Yeah, what's up with that, it's like she wants to be his wife or something. I've heard about Incest in anime and manga but I've never seen it or heard of it in real life, but she certainly acts like she wants it." Naru asked

"Well, that's something you should ask her yourself. Just about everyone in the family knows how close she is to him and is aware of her feelings, Keitaro excluded. I think it's because he's the only one to ever really show her true, genuine affection and because of that she wants to reciprocate, consequences be damned."

"But what about her parents, I'm sure they gave her plenty of love and attention." Shinobu spoke up from her spot on the couch.

"Her parents were sick twisted bastards that beat and abused her from the day she was born. When they died in that car wreck it was more than they deserved! My sis-in-law took pity on her when they found her at an orphanage and adopted her into our family. While her and my brother tried to shower Kanako with as much attention as they could, it was Keitaro, not them that she latched onto." Memories of that day began to fill Haruka's mind, how she had been helping part-time in the bakery when Kanako was been brought home.

A smile crossed her lips remembering the fit Kanako had when they tried feeding her some cake, the girl never did like sweets for some reason. Still didn't stop Keitaro from eventually cramming several of them down her throat as she flailed in his arms though.

"So, she isn't really his sister then. Well, that's sort-of a relief, still weird and wrong, but not as bad as the thought of him getting it on with a relative right Naru?" Haruka felt a chill run through her blood when Kitsune said those words, but held herself firm.

"She may not be his sister by blood, but she is still his sister, and what she was doing is clearly crossing a boarder. I say we wait until dark and then bring swift justice to her for her perversities. Then we can make her…" Motoko was cut off as Naru jumped in.

"Look, look. I know we got off on the wrong foot, and both of you just heard Haruka say that Kanako had a bad childhood of being abused and shunned? I know that she is some sort of unstoppable monster but shouldn't we at least try to be nice to her? Maybe we can break through and she will come to accept us as well." Naru reasoned with her two friends.

"Not happening." Haruka spoke standing from her spot and preparing to leave. "Kanako refuses to have friends other than Keitaro."

Well then, I'll just have to make sure she has plenty of fun when we play then." And with that Su began scheming on ways to get Kanako to be her friend.

"Whatever, it should be just about time for those two to be wrapping things up downstairs so I'm going to be heading out now. Haruka began heading for the door but stopped briefly before speaking once again. "By the way, Mutsumi will be moving in today as well. She is taking care of some loose ends and will be here later on today to bring in her stuff."

"Ok." Shinobu responded and Haruka was off leaving the rest of them to their own discussion.

"I don't like this, not one bit. Why can't we keep the dork for a manager instead of his crazy sister?" Sara whined.

"It was granny Hina's wish that she take over for her grandson. I shall respect her decision, even though I disagree." Motoko continued.

"Oh, so you are saying that you want to keep Keitaro as the male manager of this all-girls dorm?" Kitsune began teasing.

"It's not that, I'm glad that we have a female manager now. I just wish that she were more like Keitaro." Motoko replied.

"Motoko's got a crush, Motoko's got a crush." Su sang while dancing around Motoko.

"I do not! Hey, get back here!" Motoko screamed and gave pursuit as Su began running away while singing about how much Motoko loved Keitaro.

"Well, I think we should all give her a warm welcome tonight. Let's throw a party and see if we can't at least start things off on the right foot this time." Naru spoke to the remaining 3.

Sarah grumbled, Kitsune gave a loud whoop and then began making her own plans for the party. Looking over to Shinobu she found the young girl looking away in thought but knew that it was up to them to do this right.

"Can I count on your support Shinobu?" Naru asked

"Well, she is Sempai's sister and all, so yeah. I'll make sure to have an extra-special dinner waiting. I'll even bake a cake to welcome her."

"Thanks Shinobu, I knew I could count on you, now I just have to go get Motoko and Su to help decorate for the party."

10001101

Mutsumi climbed the steps with her suitcases in tow, today was the start of her life at the Hinata Sou. A room had been found for her to live in and she signed the lease papers to move in. It took a while before she could move in as Shinobu had to do all the prep work as Haruka was busy with the shop and Keitaro couldn't go back without getting slaughtered. She was glad that Keitaro finally had someone who made him happy in his life by allowing him to open up and express himself, but even though Haruka said it was only temporary she still couldn't bring herself to admit how she felt about him, even when they were talking about it the other day.

Taking a breather she sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow with a handkerchief and sighed. Looking down the steps she found her gaze lingering on the tea house. She hadn't gotten much sleep lately, every time she would try to sleep she would wake up to those sounds and would know what was going on, at first she tried to ignore it but eventually her curiosity got the better of her and she found herself in front of their door.

A part of her wanted to watch them, if only so that she could imagine herself in Haruka's place later. But she didn't know if she could stand watching Keitaro doing those things to someone else as she sat idly by. In the end she wound up knocking on the door and politely asked them to keep it down.

After their reply the noise did go down, but Mutsumi found herself leaning against the door, listening to the rest of their session. Frowning at her own insecurities Mutsumi found herself remembering part of the conversation she had with Keitaro about his relationship with the older woman.

"Keitaro, are you two using any kind of protection?"

"Not that I know of, Haruka threw out her pills and threatened me if I ever used a condom." Keitaro replied sheepishly

"That's dangerous, what if you get Haruka pregnant, have you ever thought about what would happen if she did?"

"Well, to be honest it has crossed my mind but whenever I express my concerns Haruka tells me not to worry about it and just focus on her. When we are in the heat of the moment she doesn't let me pull out either saying that it's so much more erotic if I don't." Was his reply.

"By the Kami, is she trying to get pregnant? Keitaro, what would you do if she does get pregnant?" Mutsumi was in deep shock at this news.

"I don't know if she is or if the moment is just getting the better of her. But I guess that if she gets pregnant that I have to stay with her and help raise our kid." Keitaro was looking at the table as he said this; it was obvious that he would never leave anyone to raise his child by themselves.

"Keitaro, please promise me that you will talk to Haruka about this, I'm concerned about what is happening." Mutsumi said while taking one of his hands.

"To be honest, I don't think that being with Haruka for the rest of my life would be all that bad, I feel happy when I'm with her. But yeah, I promise to bring up the topic of protection to her." He said while beaming a can do smile in her direction.

"Thanks."

As the memory ended Mutsumi Sighed once again before picking up her bags and continued up the remaining steps, once she reached the top she entered the Hinata-sou and sat them down in the living room. Looking around she found the inn strangely deserted and began searching for the tenants.

"Hello, is anyone here?" Mutsumi said as she searched around the dorm.

Without finding a single person around Mutsumi found herself at a loss to where they could be, she still had allot of stuff to do for her move-in like finding her room and unpacking her things. Then there was the whole finding and talking with everyone to let them know that she was moving in as of today. Plus she hadn't met the new landlord, she had been out buying replacement clothes and some room furnishings when Keitaro was speaking with her and didn't have a chance to meet her.

'I wonder what Kanako is like, I hope she is like Keitaro. Well, she should be after all she is his sister." A smile played itself on Mutsumi's face as she thought of how well the two of them would get along and how much like her brother the young woman would be like.

"Well, I guess I better go find my room, I hope it will be easy to find." Pulling out a small map that Haruka had provided her Mutsumi began to search through the halls for her new room.

Mutsumi had picked 202, the room right next to Shinobu's. Grabbing her bags and moving upstairs Mutsumi began wandering down the hallways trying to find her room. Eventually she found herself right outside of a very familiar room.

"Ara, this must be it." Opening the door she stepped in with her bags and sat them down inside the room. "Well, since nobody is around I guess that it wouldn't hurt if I used the Onsen to clean up before I meet everyone." Mutsumi stepped right out of the room and as fate would have it ran right into Kitsune, literally.

"Hey, watch where you're going Mutsumi!" Kitsune yelled while rubbing her butt

"Sorry, I didn't expect you to be there. I just moved in here today you see and..." Kitsune cut her off.

"Really now, moved in today you say?" Kitsune looked up at the sign hanging over the door. "I see now, you can't fool me with that disguise Kanako!" Kitsune pointed an accusatory finger at Mutsumi.

"Ahh, what? Kitsune, it's me, Mutsumi, OW!" Kitsune was pinching her face and pulling on her cheek.

"You can drop the act Kanako, I know who you are. Wow this mask is on here good." Kitsune said pulling on Mutsumi's cheek with more enthusiasm.

"Hey, what's all the commotion?" Motoko asked as she came down stairs with Su latched on her back and Shinobu right behind her.

"I think Kitsune has gone crazy, she thinks I'm someone else." Mutsumi said while breaking free of the pinch hold on her face and making her way towards the residents.

"Don't be fooled, that impostor came out of the landlords' room and claims to have moved in here today. Only the landlord will have that room and we all know that Kanako just moved in here today to be just that, and that she is a master of disguise." Kitsune quickly blurted out.

"Ara, that's not it at all, I just…"

"Ha, can't fool us twice in one day, take this." Su said pulling out a rocket launcher.

"Foul Demon, first you sully the image of your brother and now you seek to taint Mutsumi's good name, be gone foul Demon!" Motoko had her sword at the ready.

"Ara…" Mutsumi's expression began to falter in the face of all these threats. 'So this is what it was like for Keitaro.'

"Um I think this is the real Mutsumi, she was supposed to…"

"Charge!" Kitsune cut off Shinobu as the others began their attack on Mutsumi, who began running away from the other girls as best she could.

11100100

Sounds of a fight could be heard coming from inside the dorm as Kanako entered the Lobby. Taking off her shoes and putting on a pair of house slippers she looked up just in time to find Mutsumi rolling down the stairs before landing at their base.

"Ow." Was all the poor girl could say before Su, Motoko, and Kitsune were on her.

"Ha, didn't make it very far now did you. Now, off with that mask!" Kitsune said while sitting onto the older woman's back and began pulling on her face.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kanako asked.

"Ha, you can't fool us Kanako. Not twice in one… Kanako!" Kitsune said her focus shifting from the person below her to the person in front of her. "If you are there then who is…"

"Everyone stop, I think Mutsumi just picked the wrong room." An out of breath Shinobu stammered out as she caught up.

"Ow." Mutsumi moaned out from under a very embarrassed Kitsune.

"Ah, sorry Mutsumi, we thought you were Kanako in disguise." Motoko apologized.

"I'm gone for just a short while and you girls start more fights? Enough of this, I am charging all three of you for the damage you caused to this inn and you will all pitch in and clean up this mess immediately." Kanako said firmly.

"Aww, but that's no fun." Su whined from behind Motoko.

"Are you really going to challenge me?" Kanako fixed the three of them with an authoritative glare.

"I'll get a broom." Kitsune gave in.

"I guess I'll get the wood." Motoko volunteered.

"Leave the tools to me!" Su said as she scampered off to her room, Kanako could only shake her head as she then proceeded up the stairs to check the damages they caused and to make sure everything was taken care of properly.

"Ow."

00011011

Keitaro and Haruka lay in bed together, both of them breathing heavily and covered in sweat from their exertions with each other. The day had gone fairly fast with settling Kanako in as the new manager of the Hinata-Sou and then working the rest of the day in the tea house. The two of them had just finished unwinding all their pent-up frustrations and feelings about the day a few moments ago.

"Haruka, are you sure, that it is such a good idea, to continue like this?" Keitaro said as he turned his head to look into the eyes of his Aunt.

"How many times do I have to tell you, when we are in bed together, call me Aunt Haruka. When we are in public, just call me Haruka." She was too tired to smack him for the slip of the tongue and instead chose to cuddle closer with him.

"I would, but it just feels awkward for me to call you aunt when we are doing that, and natural when we are in public."

"Well, I feel that it is weird for my nephew who I am in a relationship with to call me aunt when we are in public, but not when we are in bed where it would be kinky and exciting. Kinda makes it hard for me to kiss you or hold your hand in public when a bunch of people just heard you call me aunt." Haruka reasoned with her lover as she leaned in to kiss him, only to smack the side of his head shortly after.

"Hey, what was that for."

"You said Obaa-san a few times in there tonight, I'm not old and you know it. It feels so much better when you call me Oba-san instead, like by breaking a taboo we are tasting a sweeter fruit than we ever could before."

"You're right. But I'm starting to worry Haru- Aunt Haruka." Keitaro corrected himself as she began to glare at him for almost calling her by the public, not the private name she wanted. "We have been doing this for so long, and we never use any protection. Aren't you worried about getting pregnant?" Memories of his earlier conversation with Mutsumi flaying through his head.

"Keitaro, lets not talk about this right now." Haruka attempted to dodge the question.

"Please Haruka, this is really starting to bothering me, how would we explain to my dad and Granny Hina that you are pregnant with my kid?" He got smacked again for not calling her aunt.

"I'll just say it was some guy I had a one-nighter with, I take care of the kid as a single mother, and we keep it to us knowing that you are the father. You help me take care of our kid from a distance to avoid suspicion and we basically get off the hook." Haruka said beginning to trail kisses over Keitaro's chest.

"But I can't just leave you with that kind of responsibility. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't take care of my own kid, providing them with a father figure. Which would lead to questions, and the truth would eventually get out." Keitaro was starting to panic.

"Then we could say that it was one of Kitsune's parties gone horribly wrong. The girls all passed out, me and you were sloshed and said just the right things at the right time and before we knew it or couldn't stop ourselves, and had sex." Haruka said flatly.

"It's a lie though, I don't like lies."

"Sometimes, there are good lies you tell people Keitaro." Haruka said, and before he could get another word in she had kissed him deeply before settling in next to him. "Now lets get some sleep, we both have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Keitaro agreed and after curling up with her as well, quickly fell to sleep. Haruka stayed awake for a moment longer thinking to herself.

'He is just how I imagined him to be, but how do I tell him that I actually want a baby? How I wish to have a child or two so that I can have a family to call my own, and that I don't care if he has a family with another, so long as he continues to be a part of mine.' Haruka felt his breath on her neck and couldn't help but smile and sigh at the unwittingly loving gesture.

Leaning up Haruka placed another kiss on Keitaro's lips and whispered thanks to him. Kissing him again she was tempted to wake up her lover for another round but when he began to stir Haruka could tell that he was having a rather unpleasant dream and stopped herself. Feeling guilty for using him for her own selfish reasons she planted one more kiss on his lips and promising herself that she would be more considerate of him and his feelings before drifting to sleep herself.

[ I've been thinking allot lately, and I feel that this MIGHT be the last Love Hina story that I will create at this point (sorry HinaGuy 749). I WILL complete this one and may finish up Scar in my heart, maybe post others I've started but haven't worked on lately. I will continue to write fan fictions starting with two Tenchi Muyo fics I've been writing lately, however it just seems that there's too much going on not just around me but out in the world that I'm considering going professional and publishing the multitude of original stories that I am already writing for profit and to get my name out into the literary world even further. Who knows I may post some of them as prototypes of sorts here to see how the community that has supported me so far thinks of this new direction.

I was attracted to fan fiction because many of the shows that I watch left me feeling either incomplete or like there was something missing, while some fics filled that gap there were way too many that were so bad it physically sickened me from lack of plot, bad grammar, spelling errors, and inconsistency that I wanted to originally be a kind of example to those authors. Not much has changed since I started writing except that many of the original authors that were actually good have left, and much of this bad writing has moved to the real world, showing up in books the world over, mainly in videogame based books but fantasy isn't much better either.

Now stop any crying you may be doing and note what I said at the top, this story WILL be finished, I hate leaving things that way, and it hits you the readers the hardest when it is left unfinished. Not picking on authors, but I understand where many of you sit as when a story I liked "Keitaro the Hater of Women." was discontinued I was, and still am sadly disappointed, and I don't want to leave you feeling that way about me. I also feel that as supporters of my first works that you are entitled to sneak peaks at future works that I'll try to get published later on so that doesn't mean that I will be disappearing anytime soon. So ENJOY this and the many other stories I will continue to Author. I hope they are wonderful a work of art as the stories I have published thus far and gladly accept feedback both positive and negative as they both serve to inspire me to do more, and shame me into being better than I was last I wrote.]


	8. Chapter 8

[Disclaimer: It's on the first chapter. As promised I have written the next chapter of this story, enjoy.]

Trajectory

A dull clack of empty bamboo striking rock filled the air of the hot spring as the door slid open just enough to give the person behind it a good view of the area. Looking around a smile filled her face as she quickly slid through the door before closing it as quietly as possible. Turning back towards the pool of hot water Kitsune slowly began to sneak towards the Hot Spring thinking about how nice it would feel to once again bathe in its waters. A feeling she'd been denied ever since Kanako began laying down the law, just one of the many amenities given to the other guests that were taken away from her once her sizable debt was made known. But Kanako didn't seem to be around at the time to enforce the restrictions so Kitsune decided to take full advantage of the situation before the she devil returned.

Reaching the edge of the pool Kitsune stuck her foot out and tested the water, the motion of the warm water as it lapped at her skin was almost indescribable and brought a smile to her face. A smile that quickly disappeared when she heard someone clearing their throat nearby, jumping back Kitsune looked around for anyone else who may be in the area but found nobody. Sighing in relief Kitsune sat down on her haunches and stretched one leg out preparing to slide into the water, just as her foot touched the water a second time she heard a voice surprising her enough to cause her to fall over.

"I guess this means you have the money you owe?" Kitsune sat up and rubbed her head as Kanako slid out from behind a small outcropping of rocks that previously hid her.

"Kanako! I didn't see you there." Kitsune added a few expletives under her breath to describe the younger woman.

"You know the Onsen is for full paying guests only as maintenance and upkeep is costly. If you do not have the money to pay what you owe in back rent and loans from my nii-san then you cannot use them." Kanako firmly re-explained to the older woman. "You are however free to use the bathing barrel on the third floor to clean yourself."

"Aww come on Kanako, just for a little while? Please, I've got this nasty kink in my back and my feet are sore." Kitsune begged while faking a few sprained muscles. "I promise I won't be in here long."

"I'm certain that any pains you have will go away once your body is used to its new routine. How are your chores coming along? Well I hope." The icy glare of this young woman sent chills down Kitsunes back as she remembered that she had yet to begin on the lengthy list Kanako had assigned her, a list made deliberately longer than what was handed to the others due to the amount of back-work and debts she owed for her stay along with countless parties she had thrown at the Inns expense.

"You are aware that if you do not complete them I will hire someone else to do them for you and the cost will be added to your next months rent right?" Kitsune hung her head low and felt like crying.

"Meanie, your brother would have let me use the hot springs."

"I'm not as lenient as my nii-san. You and the rest of the tenants walked all over him and did what you liked; I will not condone such behavior under my watch. Now, do you have what you owe or not? If so hand it over and you may use the Onsen as you please and I will lighten your chore load, otherwise go use the barrel." Standing up and not wanting to get into another fight, one that would end with her tied up and hanging from the rafters for a lengthy period of time Kitsune stood and trudged back to the entrance of the Inn all the while cussing under her breath.

01100011

Naru groaned when the bell rang, she didn't want to go home, Kanako had turned the dorm into a living hell without so much as resorting to brute force and things had just been one big downhill train wreck since she took over. The welcome party was an absolute disaster as Kanako didn't even so much as glance at the cake Shinobu spent hours baking for her and excused herself from the party early to get settled in. The following morning the lifestyle they grew accustomed to under Keitaro was quickly deemed unhealthy for the dorm as a business and a hazard to those within and new rules were made many of which, despite having a broad wording, seemed to single out certain individuals and their vices. Chores were assigned to tenants once more, something they had managed to push entirely onto Keitaro when he first arrived, but this time each chore seemed to be ones that each individual had used in one way or another to complicate Keitaros stay at every turn. For example Naru was given the duty to clean the windows the way she forced Keitaro to, by dangling from the end of a rope and her complaints about it were short lived when Kanako quickly pointed out that it was a very effective means of cleaning them and that Naru herself had forced another individual to do it that very same way.

Because of this several attempts at an "Operation Sabotage Kanako" were made, each one having the same amount of success that "Operation Evict Keitaro" did in the past, none. The only time one of them had caught the girl unawares was when Su had played a prank on her which resulted in a talcum powder covered Kanako, since then not one of them were capable of catching her off guard and unprepared. A planned ambush in the Onsen last night ended with Motoko muttering something about turtles while tied up in a mat and drifting in the water, Naru and Kitsune dangling from a rafter, Su and Sarah trapped in a large Tanuki statue, and Shinobu to free them all once the demon girl left, smacking herself in the head with a sign of new rules she was carrying in to place at the Onsen entrance in the process, which was an act of clumsiness that felt a little too odd since she had incapacitated all of them by herself with little effort.

Looking across the room she watched Keitaro pack his bag and remembered happier times, a time that came to an end when they all accused and beat him of things he didn't do when he was just trying to tell them it was a special day for him, some Happy Birthday that was indeed. Sure later on when she found out what was going on and spent hours trying to find him the perfect gift, one she had put in her backpack to try and give him next time she saw him, but she hadn't so much as been able to get within three meters of him outside of class for what seemed like ages. Still didn't stop her from chasing him down everyday, an effort thwarted whenever they reached the Hinata-sou steps, that was until a few days ago when he showed up along with Haruka and diffused Kanako as much as he did, it was the first time she heard his voice in well over a month, she was hoping that he was still in the same mood today.

'Who cares if he's in the same mood, I'm going to talk to him today and that's final.' Naru decided and pushed her supplies into her bag before quickly standing up and moving towards Keitaro.

It wasn't long before he began to use his usual means to avoid her by shifting through the crowd of students to try and either loose her or gain enough ground that it would be hard to catch up. Reaching the stairs he began down them quickly, Naru hopped onto the railing shortly after he disappeared down the stairs riding the rails to the next level before doing it all over again. She would have jumped to the bottom, but the one time she did she almost landed on a couple of students and wound up wasting time apologizing to them while Keitaro back tracked to the next hall up and successfully escaped down a different stair well. As their routine became more and more familiar to the students of the University they began to give both of them enough room to play their little cat and mouse games so Naru decided to use the extra space to slide down the hand rails rather than struggle with the stairs.

Unfortunately Keitaro had also thought to slide down the rails and with how thick the halls were with students if she didn't keep him in sight she would easily loose him. Jumping from the last mid floor platform to the bottom Naru broke into a dead sprint after the retreating form of Keitaro as he made it through the exit. Exiting the building she sped up now that there was more space, he was still locked in her sights as she ran after him like an old school yard bully chasing the kid who dared dump their food tray on them for a laugh. He was fast, she had to admit that much, after all he ran for his life at least twice an hour for close to two years and had often out ran even the best of them on his better days. Thoughts of how he would make a great track-star athlete if he would stop being such a pervert and learn how to run like this when he felt his life wasn't in danger were pushed aside as he started gaining ground on her once again.

"Hey! Wait up, I just want to talk." Naru called out between gasps as she chased him through the streets. "Keitaro, come on, please! Just talk to me."

Keitaro kept running as if he didn't hear her, she knew this could go on for a long time. After all she did chase him entirely across a desert, both of them on foot in soft sand that drug on their feet slowing them down more than anything, him carrying Nyamo and still keeping ahead of her, on a hiking trip that would have normally taken three days in only a matter of hours. Naru knew that if she didn't stop him from gaining ground soon she would loose him again. Reaching into a pocket on her backpack she pulled out the box containing her birthday present to him and held it up in the hopes he would see it.

"At least let me give this to you." Naru called out nearly out of breath once again but instead he just kept on running, turning a corner Naru almost slipped and lost even more ground than before.

She couldn't turn on a dime like he could, how he managed to learn to do so while moving so fast and not loose any ground or the slightest bit of velocity eluded everyone in the house, she'd seen Motoko loose it and crash into walls trying to chase him around corners, which is why the swords woman ended up turning into a skid before using one of her Ki attacks on him as a distraction while she made up for lost ground. Naru had once asked Haruka about it, to see if it was some kind of Urashima secret maneuver passed down the family line but the only answer she got was "I wish, you have no idea how humiliating it is to always eat it at a corner going half as fast as he took it when you know you can kick his ass at everything else, especially when your rank is master and he's less than a novice."

Leaping over a puddle as she made her way up a hill the strain from chasing him so much finally began to catch up with her as Naru could feel a stitch in her side as it became painful to breathe. This was a first, but then again she had been running herself ragged chasing him like this every day without much in the way of rest. Holding her side she watched helplessly as he continued to get further and further away.

"Damnit, you're such an Idiot!" Naru yelled out and almost as a reflex she threw the box in her hand at him, and as usual whenever she threw something at him it wound up beaning him in the head and he fell flat on his face, slowing to a stop in surprise she then began moving towards the fallen man while holding her cramping side. "That was surprisingly easy, wonder why I never thought of doing that before."

"Ow, that really hurt you know." Keitaro said sitting up as Naru, holding her side and out of breath finally caught up with him.

"It's your own fault you know. If you weren't such an idiot this would have never happened." Naru said before smiling that the box had landed close by. "Happy Birthday, I hope you like your present."

Looking at her in surprise Keitaros gaze fell on the box that hit him in the head, taking it and opening it his eyes actually lit up in surprise at the finely made wallet inside.

"Wow, this is really nice, thanks Naru." Keitaro spoke out of breath.

"I would have given it to you sooner, but it's kind of hard when you're pulling stunts like this." Naru gasped before flinching and holding her side as it cramped some more. "We didn't get the chance to really talk when Kanako showed up, ah that's sore, and I'd really like it if you and I could go somewhere and just catch up on some things, please?" Naru finished gasping out swearing one of her lungs just collapsed from how painful the cramp was.

"I'm not sure if I'm ready to talk about things right now Naru." Keitaro spoke while considering her request his eyes examining the wallet in his hands. "Things have been pretty messed up in my life for some time now and I don't want to drag you into it." Naru couldn't help but smile at his concern, but this was the most she'd spoken to him in a while and she was going to milk it for all she could.

"Don't worry about dragging me into anything Keitaro, I can take care of myself. Now, there's a Café not far from here, lets go there and we can catch up." Keitaro couldn't help but nod and before he knew it Naru had him following her to the place she told him about.

11010010

Motoko paused at the base of the long staircase leading up to the Hinata-sou, she was glad her classmates were not there to see her else their image of her be shattered to see her desperate to control her shaking, a shaking for which the reason was quite clear. There was a horrible unbeatable demon atop these stairs, a vile nasty creature that haunts her in the very depths of her nightmares, a foul beast whose lumbering form is the sum of all fears, its eyes so deep and dark that even hell itself would be lost within their endless abyss. The horrible thing had moved into her home making a nest of it, taking over everything she held dear and sought to torment all within the walls of the house as it weaved it's evils through the halls like a putrid mist, oh and Kanako was up there too.

Keitaro's little sister had proven to be quite formidable both physically and mentally and while Kanako had no problems disguising herself as the most disgusting creature on the planet Motoko's true fear and concern was that devil spawn Tama. Sure she had her fair share of complaints about the new manager, but Kanako often made very good arguments to justify her actions. She actually agreed with the decision to bar individuals from walking around the house while only partially clothed, and although it set her back on her training she could understand why Kanako had barred her from training on Urashima property.

The Shinmei-ryu style of martial arts wasn't always the most serene form on the planet and it had caused lots of damage to the inn and surrounding property in the past, so as a precaution to prevent further damage to Urashima property Kanako forbade the use to her families' style on Urashima property. This posed a new problem for Motoko as it effectively disarmed her against the demon whose very evil forms an impenetrable shell around itself. Now Tama was free to do as it wished and she was powerless to stop it, she had not known terror of this magnitude ever since facing one of these spawn from the deepest darkest depths of hells bottomless pits as a child.

Reaching the top step Motoko gave the area a quick once over making sure Tama was nowhere in sight before rushing to the front door. Once inside she changed her shoes for slippers and cautiously made her way to her room. If there was one thing she was going to get better at while staying here it would be stealth, it seemed to be the only effective means to get past that evil which even demons fear. Sliding into her room Motoko let out a breath of safety, turned into her room and gave it a quick once over, nothing. Collapsing she found herself wishing yet again that it was Tama who had left and not Keitaro, she had been against him moving in at first but things slowly got better with him around. She never noticed how much good he did around the inn until he was gone; then she'd help hunt him down, drag him back, and promptly forget what life without him was like once more.

That wasn't the case this time; if he came back it would only be of his own free will. Slowly within her minds eye she began to envision him coming back for a visit. The visit turned to him staying and retaking his old position, all so he could be there for her as he admits such he quickly sweeps her off her feet and leaps into the air, wedding bells suddenly ringing. Their clothes instantly replaced, him wearing a handsome tuxedo and her in a flowing white gown to signify her purity. Smiling and rolling onto her side on her futon from the sweet fantasy as it played out for her Motoko caught a whiff of a familiar scent which burst her from the surreal euphoria of her daydream. Sniffing again she knew what it was and where it was coming from without taking another whiff, leaping away from the newly revealed evil within her room Motoko held her nose and cringed in disgust as she eyed the latest of curses she was forced to endure, for Tama had crawled all over her futon while she was gone possessing her bedding with its scent.

11001001

"Come on Shinomu, it will take only a few seconds to show. I promise." Su half wined half begged from her perch on the counter in the Kitchen while Shinobu prepared dinner. "It's a really cool invention too, please? I really want to show it off!"

"I'm sorry Su, but I have work to do and if I leave now diner will be ruined." Shinobu sent a sympathetic glance for her friend as the foreign princess pouted from the other counter.

Kanako, after reviewing previous instance where Koalla had premiered her latest and greatest inventions and the fallout of said creations had barred Su from doing anymore public unveiling. Now she had to fully explain what it did, get the written consent from anyone she showed off her work to, and promise that it will cause no further harm to the Inn. Normally something like that wouldn't bother the young woman, but seeing as how she had earned a bad reputation with her crazy inventions she could hardly get anyone to come and see her hard work.

"Keitaro would have come, I miss him Shinomu, and I'm so jealous that you got to talk to him! When is my turn to talk to him? I wanna play with him again." Su continued to whine earning a sigh from the slightly younger girl.

"I don't know Su, he might just be too busy to try and visit with you." Shinobu reached for a sheet of rice paper and began to wipe down the kitchen knife in her hand so that the blade wouldn't rust. "But I'm sure he misses playing with you as well."

"Yeah, and I can show him all of my inventions, I'm sure he'd love to try a few of them out." Shinobu visibly cringed at that statement and the kitchen fell quiet for awkward amount of time before Su spoke up again. "I never meant to hurt him you know. I just thought that since he's invincible that I could keep pushing the limits of what I made and no matter what he would bounce right back like nothing ever happened, an indestructible base against which to test whatever I made to it's limits so I could measure just how tough it really is. I never thought about what it did to him whenever I did that." Su spoke even more sullenly than before.

"Su, I'm sure that Senpai isn't avoiding you because he hates you, I think he's just scared he'll run into Motoko, you know he's scared of her more than anything else right? So don't blame yourself for what happened, besides he'll be back I'm sure of it, just think of this as Keitaro going on vacation. "

"If he was coming back we wouldn't have cranky miss no fun as dorm manager right now. You and I both know that he's not coming back and why Shinobu." Su responded dropping her pet name for the young chef, as silence once again filled the room she felt herself going stir crazy and decided to try and find something to do elsewhere, grabbing the counter ledge she pushed her feet off and away from the counter and landed with a simple yet graceful thud. "Call me when Dinner is ready, I'm gonna go find something to do."

"Ok, have fun." Shinobu called to her genuinely but immediately regretted as Su adopted a slight trudge in her pace and a melancholy air about her as she left the kitchen, sighing she went back to cutting vegetables as the truth of Su's words sunk in on her.

10100110

Mutsumi sat in her room staring through the doors that led to the balcony, then night air was crisp yet warm, it was a rare sky as well for no clouds were in sight, the moon was just full enough to light the outside, but not enough to take the secrets away from the dark. A gentle breeze stirred the leaves and rang a few glass chimes, but this was mostly lost on the young woman who sat at her desk. She had completed her day's assignments not long ago giving her time to reminisce about the picture that lay before her. It was a more recent photo, her and Keitaro and Naru all standing together, smiling. Her attention was on Keitaro though, she felt better about what was happening in his life knowing why things had gone the way they did, but that was little comfort. Her chances of having him were always slim, but that was because he was so close to Naru, out of all the women he could have ended up with though his aunt was the last one she would have guessed.

'I'm not trying to take him from anyone. If you want to be with him, then go ahead.' Haruka's words came back to her, she knew the older woman was being sincere, but Keitaro's were not lost on her either. Didn't Haruka know that if she let Keitaro get her pregnant that he would never leave her? Even if somehow he did end up with another woman he would never leave Haruka with his child, and if it really was her that he got with, could she ever accept such a thing? She didn't even know where acceptance would begin.

Trying to accept what they have done was hard enough, but to forever share him with her made it so much harder to accept. She would be giving him all of her heart, but because of his loyalty to the woman who bore his child he would never be able to give her all of his. Mutsumi had a hard enough time understanding loveless marriages, and from everything she's seen in books, movies, and television she did not wish that for herself. But demanding otherwise would kill Keitaro, and that she could not live with.

Normally she would be the one trying to help others but she really needed to seek advice on this, but the only person she could go to for it was the source of her dilemma itself. But was there any other way? Heaving a defeated sigh Mutsumi looked at the clock and noticing it was still early enough that that the shop wouldn't be closed quite yet, she decided that a little reassurance and advice is exactly what she needs. Standing up she closed the balcony doors and steeled herself for what she was about to do before leaving her room, her destination, the tea house.

01101100

As Kanako slipped through the second story window into the darkened guest room of the tea shop she made her way to the closed door, she was being extra careful not to get caught. Unlike how she caught Mutsumi when she slipped out of the house with a determined look on her face prompting Kanako to followed her; the young woman was so easy to follow too Kanako could practically walk right next to her and not be noticed. Kanako found herself wondering on occasion what it would be like to dress up as Mutsumi and trick the real one into thinking she wasn't the real one, but Kanako couldn't let her guard down like that for a silly little prank. Just like she couldn't let her guard down while spying on the older woman, especially after watching her enter the tea shop owned and run by her Obasan. She tried to eaves drop from the outside but all she could make out was Mutsumi, Obasan Haruka, and her Nii-san talking.

What caught her by surprise was when the lights on the lower half of the shop turned off, Kanako half expected the airhead to come out and waited for several moments until it became clear that wasn't going to be the case. She had decided to investigate further and here she was now. Careful to lift the door slightly before edging it open enough to peek through Kanako scanned the short dark hallway, the only illumination coming from the moon outside the windows and the small opening in the other bedroom door.

This piqued her curiosity as she knew that was her Obasan's room, and yet it was also the only one with a light on, in the very least her Nii-san should have made his way to this room, the guest room, but the room itself looked abandoned to storage. Gently sliding the door open just enough so she could slip out Kanako silently made her way across the floor, her training ensuring that very little noise would be made to mark her passage. As she reached the door she cautiously leaned over towards the opening and peered inside. At first she was confused and a little shocked by what she saw, sitting at the side of the room was Mutsumi, her attention riveted to the other two occupants who were participating in the main event.

Her Nii-san and Obasan were sharing a passionate kiss and slowly disrobing each other, at first this upset Kanako, after all she had already laid claim to him. But she wasn't about to disturb what was going on and make assumptions which would place her in a potentially harmful situation and instead continued to watch as the intimacy of the two lovers continued to heighten lending more shock to the young woman. But it as quickly as it built it was overtaken and replaced as she began to see the makings of the perfect plan unfolding right before her eyes and a smile crept its way over her face. Adjusting her position to be a bit more comfortable Kanako continued to watch the forbidden act before her and found herself enjoying the show as her smile turned into a grin.

'Soon dear Nii-san, soon.'

[Hope you enjoyed this chapter for it is the last!]

[To take more than a year to write, we all hope anyways. Had you going there didn't I? No, there's at least two other chapters worth of material I've already got in my head for this story and it would be a shame not to get it out of there so I have room for other stuff and the best way to do that is to write it down, and what's the point of writing it down if I'm not going to share it? So relax, I'm not dead yet, I do respond to messages sent to me, but I've also grown to be very busy with my life.

Things are settling down a though and being able to finish this chapter after several months of it teetering on the edge of being complete is proof enough of that. This chapter started out much differently, mostly as simple descriptions meant to be a backdrop for the chapter, but knowing that my loyal readers don't read my stories because they are like every other fiction I decided to expand out and explore these things through the characters themselves even changing and adding things to scenes as I re-read what I had written a few times until it all seemed to sit well which wound up turning everything before the Mutsumi switch into this chapter and I STILL didn't use everything I originally had written down. I really like how it turned out by doing that, I just hope I didn't bore any of you with it.

The Mutsumi part up through the end is the ending I had planned for this chapter to begin with though and the rest just kinda happened. I have yet to decide exactly how I'm going to end the story, as every good author knows you start out with a story idea with points along the line, you start writing it on out and before you know it the whole thing has taken on a life of it's own and is going places you never thought it would go taking on things you never meant or imagined it taking on and it just gets so hard to guide forcing you to decide if you are going to force it into a strict form to meet all the points you want it to but sacrifice the flow of the story resulting in dead end breaks and cracks while forcing it into a mold that makes it feel like everything is mechanical and single sided, or if you are going to sacrifice some of the original points in favor of letting the story flow and take on a shapes colors and personalities readers can relate to. I like the idea of picking out important plot points and trying to guide the story towards those or adjusting them to fit while letting it grow and take on a liveliness it would lack otherwise. Just like how at first I didn't plan on having Kanako be the only character to use Japanese familiarities rather than English that just sort of happened. The idea of Motoko being scared by Tama but shrugging off Kanako actually came from a Troll review saying "Oh no, It's Kanako, the big evil invincible unstoppable scary demon girl come to take revenge. Pffsh yeah, that's a bit over used" so I decided to make a satirical play off of it in a way that gives the big fat finger to them all the while keeping true to the character of the story and the character I was using, it turned out so well that I'm gonna use it again later on, maybe turn it into a running gag. I'm sorry about the wait and again I hope you enjoyed this chapter.]


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